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11th Annual Conference Of The British HIV Association [BHIVA]20–23 April 2005, Burlington Hotel·Dublin·Ireland |
[AUTHOR(S):] MK Malu1, R Cunningham2, J Northwood2, S Shaw3, JR Willcox2
1Whittall Street Clinic, Birmingham, 2Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Plymouth, 3Department of Statistics, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
BHIVA Conf 2005 Apr 20-23;11:O5
AIM: To compare the detection rates of HSV with virus culture and TaqMan PCR.
METHODS: 134 patients with lesions suggestive of genital herpes attending the GUM clinic in Plymouth were recruited in the study. Two swabs were taken simultaneously by holding them together and sent for virus culture and PCR.
RESULTS:
| Table: HSV detection by virus culture and PCR | ||
| Culture (n=134) | PCR (n=134) | |
| HSV 1 | 29 (21.64%) | 37 (27.61%) |
| HSV 2 | 25 (18.65%) | 49 (36.56%) |
| Negative | 74 (55.22%) | 48 (35.82%) |
| Unable to perform test | 6 (4.47%) | 0 (0.0%) |
Overall 40.29% and 64.17% of the specimens were positive for either HSV 1 or 2 by culture and PCR respectively. Notably the yield was higher with virus type 2 than type 1. There was no discrepancy in virus type as determined by culture and PCR. There was no patient with PCR negative but culture positive for the virus. There were 6 patients where culture could not be done due to contamination, of which 2 were HSV type 1, 2 were HSV type 2 and 2 were negative by PCR.
CONCLUSION: The PCR is significantly more sensitive in detecting HSV (more sensitive for type 2 than type 1 virus) compared to culture.
PRESENTING AUTHOR: MK Malu
2005-04-20
05
Copyright © 2005 - British HIV Association (BHIVA) Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the BHIVA Organising Secretariat 1 Mountview Court, 310 Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0LD