HSV IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette

HSV IgG/IgM Rapid Test

The Herpes Simplex Virus Rapid Test is a rapid qualitative lateral flow test designed for the quantitive detection of IgG antibodies to Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) in human serum/plasma samples.

HSV-1 is usually associated with infection in oropharyngeal area and eyes, while HSV-2 causes mostly genital and neonatal infections ^{(5, 6)}, however, the tissue specificity is not absolute ⁽⁷⁾. HSV-2 can be isolated occasionally from the oropharynx and 5-10% of primary genital infections may be caused by HSV-1. Infants infected with HSV appear normal at birth, but almost invariably develop symptoms during the newborn period ^{(5, 8, 9)}. Neonatal HSV infection may remain localized or become disseminated. Localized infection may involve one or a combination of sites. These are skin, eyes, mouth or the central nervous system. Disseminated infection is manifested by pneumonitis, hepatitis, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and encephalitis. Of the infants with neonatal HSV, about one half of those surviving will develop severe neurological or ocular sequelae. A number of serological procedures have been developed to detect antibodies to HSV. These include complement fixation, indirect immunofluorescent antibody, plaque neutralization, and ELISA ^{(6, 8, 10)}. Antibody of the IgG class is produced during the first 2-3 weeks of infection with HSV and exists only transiently in most patients. Serologic procedures, which measure the presence of IgG antibodies, help discriminate between primary and recurrent infections, since IgG antibodies is rarely found in recurrent infections. High affinity IgG antibodies to HSV, if present in a sample, may interfere with the detection of IgG specific antibody ^(9). High affinity IgG antibody may preferentially bind to HSV-1 antigen leading to false negative IgG results. Also, rheumatoid factor, if present, along with antigen specific IgG, may bind to IgG causing false positive IgG results. Both problems can be eliminated by deactivating IgG in the sample before testing for IgG.

Rebecca Yan