Abstract

To aid in the diagnosis of certain clinical types of Herpes virus infections, we evaluated and compared five serological methods for measuring Herpes virus antibody. The five tests we compared are complement fixation test (CF), indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay (IFA), anticomplementary immunofluorescent assay (ACIF), enzyme linked immunoassay test (ELISA), and the latex agglutination test (LA). The main objective of this study was to establish which of the currently available serologic tests was best suited for clinical laboratory use and which may then replace the complement fixation test. In the comparative testing, one hundred twenty serum samples were divided into four groups which were based on their complement fixation test results. The groups were negative, low positive, high positive and blind samples. A commercial indirect fluorescent antibody test was compared and was found to be easy to perform and cost effective. The problems with the IFA test is that it has low specificity and high false-positive predictability. A third test compared was a commercially available ELISA kit, which was shown to be rapid and sensitive. This test appeared to have a high false-positive rate based upon results obtained from cell culture control beads. The ACIF test was also included. It eliminated the false positive problems observed with the IFA. The final test method was a commercial latex agglutination kit, which performed similarly with the other tests. In our hands we have found the latex agglutination test to be most ideal.

LLU Discipline

Microbiology

Department

Microbiology

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

John E. Lewis

Second Advisor

James D. Kettering

Third Advisor

William E. Eby

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1988

Date (Title Page)

8-1988

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Herpes Simplex -- diagnosis; Herpes Genitalis -- diagnosis; Herpes Labialis -- diagnosis; Serology; Serodiagnosis

Type

Thesis

Page Count

v; 88

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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