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Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus in Cerebrospinal Fluid

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Diagnosis of Human Viruses by Polymerase Chain Reaction Technology

Part of the book series: Frontiers of Virology ((FRVIROLOGY,volume 1))

Summary

Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is a serious disease with significant morbidity and mortality if left untreated. It can be treated with acyclovir, but for this to be effective it must be instituted early during the course of disease. Noninvasive, early diagnosis, however, is presumptive at best, and many patients are treated without a definitive diagnosis.

We have developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of HSV DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of experimentally infected mice. PCR was compared with viral isolation techniques and immunofluorescence on CSF cells during the course of disease of experimentally infected mice. It was found to be more sensitive than these other methods, and HSV DNA could be detected during the earliest stages of central nervous system infection. The assay has also been used for the detection of HSV DNA in CSF samples from patients with HSE. The results are discussed and compared with those published elsewhere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands

    R. H. Boerman, A. C. B. Peters, E. P. J. Arnoldus & B. R. Bloem

  2. Department of Cytochemistry and Cytometry, State University Leiden, The Netherlands

    E. P. J. Arnoldus, A. K. Raap & M. van der Ploeg

  3. Department of Virology, Rijksinstituut voor de Volksgezondheid en Milieuhygiëne, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

    A. M. van Loon

Authors
  1. R. H. Boerman
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  2. A. C. B. Peters
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  3. E. P. J. Arnoldus
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  4. A. K. Raap
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  5. A. M. van Loon
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  6. B. R. Bloem
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  7. M. van der Ploeg
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Virology Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, POB 1172, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yechiel Becker

  2. Institut für Medizinische Virologie, der Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, W-6900, Heidelberg, Germany

    Gholamreza Darai

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© 1992 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Boerman, R.H. et al. (1992). Polymerase Chain Reaction Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus in Cerebrospinal Fluid. In: Becker, Y., Darai, G. (eds) Diagnosis of Human Viruses by Polymerase Chain Reaction Technology. Frontiers of Virology, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84766-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84766-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-84768-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-84766-0

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