Med. praxi. 2010;7(5):241-244

Laboratory diagnosis of herpesviruses

RNDr.Kateřina Roubalová, CSc.

Vidia s. r. o., Jesenice u Prahy

Herpesviruses establish a lifelong persistent infection in their host characterized by periods of latency and reactivation. This biological

property is associated with difficulties in their laboratory diagnosis. For this purpose, indirect diagnostic methods based on the demonstration

of specific antibodies or direct methods for demonstrating viral material in clinical samples are available. In serological tests,

it is necessary to distinguish antibodies that are related to the patient‘s history from those related to active infection. Antibody assay

is mainly useful in diagnosing primary infection. In reactivated infections, in the chronically ill, and in immunodeficient patients, the

interpretation of serological findings is unclear. Direct evidence of infection has a significantly higher informative value in these cases.

The paper provides an overview of available diagnostic methods and describes how they are used, how samples are collected and how

laboratory findings are interpreted.

Keywords: herpesviruses, diagnosis, laboratory methods

Published: June 1, 2010  Show citation