Transport Media for Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2

An evaluation was made of the recovery rate of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 or 2 from 197 clinical specimens obtained in two or three charcoal transport media: Leibovitz viral transport medium, a modified Leibovitz-Emory medium (LEM), in which agarose was used instead of agar, and Amies bacterial transport medium. The specimens were stored and shipped for 1 to 19 days in these media at ambient temperature or in Hanks buffered-salt solution in dry ice. The results indicate that the LEM was most effective, particularly in the recovery of HSV type 2 from clinical specimens held at ambient temperature. In vitro and in vivo studies in genitally infected mice corroborated the observations obtained with human clinical specimens. The availability of transport media which can be used for shipment at ambient temperature offers clinicians easier accessibility to laboratory confirmation and antigenic typing of HSV from suspect herpetic infections.