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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2003, p. 1565-1568, Vol. 41, No. 4
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.4.1565-1568.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Rapid Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus and Varicella-Zoster Virus Infections by Real-Time PCR

Manfred Weidmann, Ursula Meyer-König, and Frank T. Hufert*

Department of Virology, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

Received 7 August 2002/ Returned for modification 1 November 2002/ Accepted 3 January 2003

The herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) can cause life-threatening infections of the central nervous system and lead to severe infections in immunocompromised subjects and newborns. In these cases, rapid diagnosis is crucial. We developed three different real-time PCR assays based on TaqMan chemistry for the LightCycler instrument to detect HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV. When the TaqMan assays were compared to our in-house nested PCR assays, the test systems had equal sensitivities of <=10 plasmid copies per assay. When clinical samples were investigated by TaqMan PCR to detect HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV DNA, 95, 100, and 96% of the samples determined to be positive by nested PCR, respectively, were positive by the real-time PCR assays. The specificities of all PCR assays were almost 100%. Furthermore, the TaqMan PCR assays could be performed within 2.5 h, whereas nested PCR results were available after 9 h. In addition to offering more rapid results, the TaqMan PCR assays appear to be less expensive than nested PCR assays due to less hands-on time. In summary, TaqMan PCR is an excellent alternative to conventional nested PCR assays for the rapid detection of HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV in clinical samples.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Virology, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 11, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. Phone: 49-761-203-6591. Fax: 49-761-203-6603. E-mail: hufert{at}ukl.uni-freiburg.de.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2003, p. 1565-1568, Vol. 41, No. 4
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.4.1565-1568.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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