Diagnosis of herpes encephalitis via Southern blotting of cerebrospinal fluid DNA amplified by polymerase chain reaction

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Abstract
Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA extracted from lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and Southern blotting (SB) were evaluated as a method for the diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). Positive PCR-SB results were obtained with CSF samples from 9 of 10 patients (11 of 12 CSF specimens) with proven herpes encephalitis as early as 2 days after onset of neurological illness. Our data support the suggestion that PCR techniques may provide a clinically relevant "non-invasive" method for the diagnosis of HSE.