Missing Cases of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infection of the Central Nervous System When the Reller Criteria Are Applied for HSV PCR Testing : a Multicenter Study

Copyright © 2019 American Society for Microbiology..

Previous studies suggested that herpes simplex virus (HSV) PCR testing can be safely deferred in patients with normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) white blood cell (WBC) counts and protein levels as long as they are older than 2 years of age and are not immunocompromised, the so-called Reller criteria. In this multicenter study, we retrospectively assessed the validity of these screening criteria in our setting. A total of 4,404 CSF specimens submitted for HSV PCR testing to the respective microbiology laboratories at the participating hospitals between 2012 and 2018 were included. Six commercially available HSV PCR assays were used across the participating centers. Ninety-one of the 4,404 CSF specimens (2.1%) tested were positive for HSV DNA (75 samples for HSV-1 and 16 for HSV-2). Nine patients failed to meet the Reller criteria, of whom seven were deemed to truly have HSV encephalitis. Overall, no significant correlation between HSV PCR cycle threshold (CT ) values and WBC counts or total protein levels was found. In addition, median HSV PCR CT s were comparable between patients who met the Reller criteria and those who did not (P = 0.531). In summary, we show that HSV DNA may be detected in CSF specimens with normal WBC and protein levels collected from immunocompetent individuals older than 2 years with HSV encephalitis. Nevertheless, the data also indicate that the number of cases detected could be lowered at least by half if CSF specimens with borderline WBC counts (4 cells/mm3) as well as children of any age are systematically tested.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2019

Erschienen:

2019

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:57

Enthalten in:

Journal of clinical microbiology - 57(2019), 2 vom: 28. Feb.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Albert, Eliseo [VerfasserIn]
Alberola, Juan [VerfasserIn]
Bosque, Monserrat [VerfasserIn]
Camarena, Juan José [VerfasserIn]
Clari, María Ángeles [VerfasserIn]
Domínguez Márquez, María Victoria [VerfasserIn]
Gil-Fortuño, María [VerfasserIn]
Gimeno, Adelina [VerfasserIn]
Nogueira, José Miguel [VerfasserIn]
Ocete, María Dolores [VerfasserIn]
Orta, Nieves [VerfasserIn]
Prat, Josep [VerfasserIn]
Rodríguez, Juan Carlos [VerfasserIn]
Valero, Isabel [VerfasserIn]
Gimeno Cardona, Concepción [VerfasserIn]
Navarro, David [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Central nervous system infections
Cerebrospinal fluid
DNA, Viral
Herpes simplex virus
Journal Article
Multicenter Study

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 01.04.2020

Date Revised 01.04.2020

published: Electronic-Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1128/JCM.01719-18

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM291183484