Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for diagnosis of human herpesvirus-7 infection.

Introduction: Human herpesvirus (HHV)-7 establishes a latent infection during the lifetime of the host and can reactivate after the primary infection, leading to lytic replication in immunosuppressed patients.

Methods: This study aimed to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to identify HHV-7 serum antibodies and compare its performance with that of an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA).

Results: Serum samples (n=102) were tested by IgG-IFA and by ELISA.

Human herpesvirus-7 in Brazilian liver transplant recipients: a follow-up comparison between molecular and immunological assays.

Human herpesvirus-6 and -7 (HHV-6, HHV-7) remain latent after primary infection and can reactivate after transplantation. HHV-6 active infection has been related to some clinical manifestation, but the role of HHV-7 remains unclear. The clinical significance of HHV-7 DNAemia is not completely known and the immune response against HHV-7 has been poorly studied in transplantation.