Detection of Herpes Simplex and Varicella-Zoster Virus in Clinical Specimens by Multiplex Real-Time PCR and Melting Curve Analysis

Table 4

Clinical and laboratory findings of the patients positive for the presence of HSV or VZV DNA in CSF by PCR.

Virus detected	Number of positive samples	Age at diagnosis (number of patients)	Clinical diagnosis; (number of patients)	Number of immunocompromised patients*/number of immunocompetent patients
HSV-1	3	31–50 (1)	Encephalitis (1)	0/1
		>50 (2)	Encephalitis (2)	1/1
HSV-2	4	31–50 (2)	Meningitis (2)	0/2
		>50 (1)	Meningitis (1)	0/1
VZV	23	10–30 (3)	Meningitis (3)	0/3
		31–50 (7)	Meningitis (6)	1/5
			Myelitis (1)	0/1
		>50 (12)	Encephalitis (6)	4/2
			Meningitis (4)	1/3
			Disseminated viral infection (1)	1/0
			Ramsay Hunt syndrome (1)	0/1

∗Immunocompromised patients include patients who were diagnosed with hematologic malignancy (acute myeloid leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and essential thrombocythemia), solid tumor (breast cancer and cervical cancer), rheumatoid arthritis treated with methotrexate, and diabetes mellitus.
HSV: herpes simplex virus; VZV: varicella-zoster virus.