This Article Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: CVI.00120-07v1 14/12/1545    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Summerton, J. Articles by Quinn, T. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Summerton, J. Articles by Quinn, T. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clin. Vaccine Immunol. doi:10.1128/CVI.00120-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

The Effect of STD Co-Infections on the Performance of Three Commercially Available Immunosorbent Assays for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Antibody in Men Attending Baltimore City STD Clinics

The Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Baltimore, MD; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD; Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: tquinn{at}jhmi.edu.

	Abstract

Two hundred seventy-nine sera samples from men attending STD clinics in Baltimore City were tested for herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) specific antibody by three immunosorbent gG-2 glycoprotein-based assays (Kalon, Focus, Biokit). All positive results were confirmed by Western blot (91/279, 32.6% HSV-2 seroprevalence). All patients were also tested for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma genitalium, HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus. The Kalon assay performed very well in this population (90.8% sensitive and 99.4% specific) whereas the Focus assay had a much lower sensitivity than previously shown (82.6% sensitivity). In 19.7% of the samples the Biokit assay gave an indeterminate result. It was found that the odds of a sample having a Biokit indeterminate result, compared to a definitive positive or negative, were 3.88 times greater for subjects concurrently infected with N. gonorrhoeae after controlling for the effect of other STDs (p-value 0.001, 95% CI (1.78, 8.45)). Unfortunately, we were unable to control for HSV-1 in the regression model which, based on ²analysis, might also impact the clarity of the Biokit test. The recommended index cutoff value of 1.1 by Focus and Kalon assays was found to be optimal for this population.