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Detection of herpes simplex virus in clinical specimens by the suspension-infection technique was compared with detection by conventional cell culture. The sensitivity and specificity of the suspension-infection technique compared with those of conventional culture were 95.9 to 98.2% and 97.5 to 100%, respectively, depending on the cell line used in the tests. The mean time to diagnosis by the suspension-infection technique was 1 day, compared with 4.8 days by conventional culture. Comparable detection of low-level positive specimens was observed with the methods. In a clinical setting, the isolation rates obtained by suspension-infection and conventional culture were indistinguishable. These results indicate that the suspension-infection method can be used for the detection of herpes simplex virus and can yield rapid diagnostic results without a time-consuming centrifugation step.

A new chlamydia transport medium (ChlamydiaPort; Scott Laboratories, Inc., Fiskeville, R.I.) was evaluated for its suitability as a transport medium for herpes simplex virus (HSV). Two laboratory HSV strains (McIntyre and 333) and two clinical isolates (AO218 and AO301) were suspended in ChlamydiaPort, ViraPort (Scott Laboratories), and cell culture medium and maintained at 2 and 22 degrees C. Samples were tested at various time intervals to determine surviving virus. The range of half-lives of the HSV strains held at 2 degrees C in ChlamydiaPort medium was from 3.5 to 10 days, while virus stability was greater in ViraPort and less in cell culture medium. These HSV strains held at 22 degrees C in ChlamydiaPort had half-lives from 1.5 to 6 days, which were significantly greater than the half-lives of the viruses held in either tissue culture medium or ViraPort. Clinical specimens were tested for virus by using the Selecticult-HSV (Scott Laboratories) system to determine the performance of the transport medium under field conditions. Clinical specimens maintained up to 5 days at ambient temperatures in ChlamydiaPort medium appeared suitable for diagnostic testing without detectable loss of positive specimens. In addition, there was a significant decrease in the average time required for diagnosis when compared with a standard transport system, Virocult (Microdiagnostics, Cleveland, Ohio). These results show that HSV infections can be successfully diagnosed in distant virology laboratories by shipping specimens in ChlamydiaPort transport medium at ambient temperatures.

Herpes simplex virus survived in Virocult transport tubes and had a half-life of 3.5 days at 2 degrees C and 2.75 days at 22 degrees C. Of 2,000 consecutive clinical specimens transported on Virocult tubes and cultured for herpes simplex virus, 448 (22.4%) were positive. Comparison of the holding times between positive and negative cultures, up to 12 days, revealed no significant loss of positive cultures with time.