External Validation of ATCC Molecular Standards for Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2)

Herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2) causes a wide range of clinical manifestations that result in lifelong infections. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays are routinely used for the detection of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections in clinical samples. However, the accuracy of a qPCR assay is dependent upon the generation of a standard curve using a positive control with a known genome copy number. Moreover, an independent positive control is required to monitor variations in assay performance for molecular assays. ATCC has developed HSV-1 and HSV-2 quantitative molecular standards for use as controls for the detection and quantification of these viruses from clinical samples.