Diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infection by immunofluorescence

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Abstract
The utility of the indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) technique for diagnosis of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection was examined by testing specimens for this agent from 31 patients with encephalitis or meningitis, 17 with conjunctivitis, 19 with genital disease, and 1 with genital disease and meningitis. Brain biopsy tissue from 4 patients with encephalitis was positive by IFA and virus culture for HSV. Leukocytes in cerebrospinal fluid from these 4 patients and 1 with HSV meningitis were also positive by IFA, but virus isolation attempts on the fluid were all negative. Conjunctival scrapings from 2 patients with conjunctivitis were positive for HSV by IFA and virus culture. Of 12 culture-positive lesions of herpes progenitalis, 11 were positive by IFA, and 1 dark field-positive syphilitic chancre was also positive for HSV by IFA and culture. Evidence for specificity of the results was provided by internal controls in each test and negative results from patients with other diagnoses. The IFA technique constituted a rapid, sensitive, and specific diagnostic method for the diagnosis of HSV infections.