Time Course of Seroconversion by HerpeSelect ELISA After Acquisition of Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) or HSV-2

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Abstract
HerpeSelect HSV-1 and HSV-2 ELISAs are glycoprotein G–based, type-specific antibody detection tests that are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for diagnosis of genital herpes. The goal was to determine seroconversion times by means of HerpeSelect ELISAs. Four-hundred thirteen sera from 113 patients with recently acquired genital herpes were tested by HerpeSelect ELISAs and Western blot (WB). Thirty-one patients had primary genital HSV-1 (group 1), 56 had primary HSV-2 (group 2), and 26 had prior HSV-1 antibodies and newly acquired HSV-2 (group 3). Median interval from onset of symptoms to seroconversion was 25 days, as determined by HerpeSelect HSV-1, versus 33 days by WB for group 1; 21 days by HerpeSelect HSV-2 versus 40 days by WB (group 2;P = 0.0005); and 23 days by HerpeSelect HSV-2 ELISA versus 47 days by WB (group 3;P = 0.02). In long-term follow-up, transient reversion to HerpeSelect negativity occurred in 3 of 31 HSV-1-infected subjects (10%) and in 2 of 82 HSV-2-infected subjects (2%). Seroconversion to HSV-2 was determined faster by HerpeSelect than by WB.