Techniques for Typing Herpesvirus Hominis Antibody: A Comparison of Inhibition of Peroxidase-Labelled Antibody Staining with Inhibition of Indirect Haemagglutination and with Microneutralisation

Abstract

A new technique based upon the inhibition of the peroxidase-labeled antibody staining (PLAS) was used to type Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) antibodies in 4 groups of human sera taken from patients with 1 or both types of HVH infection and in mixtures of different proportions of type 1 and type 2 antisera. The results were compared with those of the microneutralization (MN) test and the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) inhibition test. The sensitivity and specificity of the 3 methods were identical for sera containing only 1 type of HVH antibody. The MN test was slightly more sensitive than the other tests for detecting small amounts of HVH-1 antibody mixed with large amounts of HVH-2 antibody. The PLAS inhibition technique was far more rapid and it would seem a satisfactory alternative to the IHA inhibition test for HVH antibody typing.