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

doi:10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.854

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

Afr J Lab Med. 2020 Aug 31;9(1):854. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.854. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Shanthie Govender¹, Lungile Mbambo¹, Makandwe Nyirenda², Motshedisi Sebitloane³, Nathlee Abbai¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Clinical Medicine Research Laboratory, Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
² South African Medical Research Council, HIV Prevention Research, Durban, South Africa.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 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; South Africa; pregnant women; rapid test.