ArticleSexually transmitted infections2010
Comparison of focus HerpesSelect and Kalon HSV-2 gG2 ELISA serological assays to detect herpes simplex virus type 2 antibodies in a South African population.
Article in Sexually transmitted infections, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Estimated global and regional incidence and prevalence of herpes simplex virus infections and genital ulcer disease in 2020: mathematical modelling analyses.Sexually transmitted infections · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 2 in Latin America and the Caribbean: systematic review, meta-analyses and metaregressions.Sexually transmitted infections · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) infection and associated risk factors in a cohort of HIV negative women in Durban, South Africa.BMC research notes · 2016Trial
- Tenofovir Gel for the Prevention of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection.The New England journal of medicine · 2015Trial
- Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Prevalence and Association with Inflammatory Cytokines Among Sexual and Gender Minorities Living With and Without HIV-1 from Lagos, Nigeria.AIDS research and human retroviruses · 2023Article
- Observational
- The association of exposure to DREAMS on sexually acquiring or transmitting HIV amongst adolescent girls and young women living in rural South Africa.AIDS (London, England) · 2022Article
- Protocol: Mapping social networks, social influence and sexual health among youth in rural KwaZulu-Natal, the Sixhumene cohort study.Wellcome open research · 2022Article
- Does schooling protect sexual health? The association between three measures of education and STIs among adolescents in Malawi.Population studies · 2020Article
- An Assessment of Risk Factors for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection in Malawian Women Using 2 Classifications for the HerpeSelect 2 Test.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2020Article
- Age-disparate partnerships and incident HIV infection in adolescent girls and young women in rural South Africa.AIDS (London, England) · 2019Article
- Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence Among Different National Populations of Middle East and North African Men.Sexually transmitted diseases · 2018Article
- Executive function associated with sexual risk in young South African women: Findings from the HPTN 068 cohort.PloS one · 2018Article
- Involving parents from the start: formative evaluation for a large randomised controlled trial with Botswana Junior Secondary School students.African journal of AIDS research : AJAR · 2016Article
- Current Concepts for Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Infection: Diagnostics and Pathogenesis of Genital Tract Shedding.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2016Review
- Optimal management of genital herpes: current perspectives.Infection and drug resistance · 2016Review
- Performance of Kalon herpes simplex virus 2 assay using dried blood spots among young women in Uganda.African journal of laboratory medicine · 2016Article
- Precision of the Kalon Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 IgG ELISA: an international inter-laboratory assessment.BMC infectious diseases · 2015Article
- Socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics associated with HSV-2 sero-prevalence in high risk women in KwaZulu-Natal.BMC research notes · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionSero-epidemiological studies of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 infection in Africa remain difficult to interpret as a result of the high rate of false-positive results observed when using the new recombinant gG2 HSV-2 ELISA tests. The performance of two widely used gG2 ELISA was compared to derive an appropriate testing algorithm for use in South Africa.
methodsSera from 210 women attending family planning clinics in Johannesburg were tested using HerpeSelect and Kalon HSV-2 gG2 assays. Sera from 20 discordant pairs, 44 concordant positive and 33 concordant negative samples were further tested by HSV Western blot. The sensitivity and specificity of each test and of combination algorithms compared with Western blot were calculated.
resultsHerpeSelect had a sensitivity of 98% (95% CI 95 to 100) and specificity of 61% (95% CI 48 to 74). Kalon was less sensitive (89%, 95% CI 83 to 94) but more specific (85%, 95% CI 61 to 100). Seroprevalence may have been overestimated by as much as 14% by HerpeSelect. Specificity was improved by raising the cut-off index for the determination of a positive result for HerpeSelect (to >or=3.5), but not for Kalon. HIV-1 infection reduced the specificity of HerpeSelect to 30%. Improved sensitivity and specificity were obtained by a two-test algorithm using HerpeSelect (>or=3.5) as the first test and Kalon to resolve equivocal results (sensitivity 92%, 95% CI 82 to 98; specificity 91%, 95% CI 79 to 98).
conclusionNewer HSV-2 serological tests have low specificity in this South African population with a high HIV-1 prevalence. Two-step testing strategies could provide rational testing alternatives to Western blot.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.