Brief Report

Herpes simplex virus-2 infections in pregnant women from South Africa: Evaluation of the ImmunoFLOW rapid test

Shanthie Govender, Lungile Mbambo, Makandwe Nyirenda, Motshedisi Sebitloane, Nathlee Abbai
African Journal of Laboratory Medicine | Vol 9, No 1 | a854 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.854 | © 2020 Shanthie Govender, Lungile Mbambo, Makandwe Nyirenda, Motshedisi Sebitloane, Nathlee Abbai | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 27 June 2018 | Published: 31 August 2020

About the author(s)

Shanthie Govender, School of Clinical Medicine Research Laboratory, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Lungile Mbambo, School of Clinical Medicine Research Laboratory, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Makandwe Nyirenda, South African Medical Research Council, HIV Prevention Research, Durban, South Africa
Motshedisi Sebitloane, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Clinical Medicine Research Laboratory, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Nathlee Abbai, School of Clinical Medicine Research Laboratory, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Abstract

The diagnostic performance of ImmunoFLOW, a rapid test for detecting herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) infections, was investigated in 248 antenatal women. Approximately one hundred and seventy-seven (71%) of the enrolled women were infected with HSV-2. Sero-positivity was associated with older age ([≥ 30 years] 104/177, 58%), having a secondary level of education but not tertiary level of education (125/177, 70.6%), and being unmarried (150/177, 84.7%). The sensitivity of the ImmunoFLOW test in relation to the HerpeSelect HSV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was 89.7% and specificity was 96.2%. The ImmunoFLOW therefore can serve as a valuable test in screening for HSV-2 infections in pregnant women.

Keywords

HSV-2 infection; pregnant women; rapid test; South Africa

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