Impact of Blood Herpes Simplex Virus Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing in Neonatal Management of Herpes Simplex Virus Infection: An Institutional Experience

A total of 149 medical records were analyzed, of which seven had positive blood HSV PCR. These seven patients and five of 142 patients with negative blood HSV PCR had a positive HSV PCR result from another site, and they were managed according to those results. The mean turnaround time (TAT) for the results of blood HSV PCR was three and a half days for positive results and four days for negative results. In most patients with negative PCR from other sites, including CSF, acyclovir was discontinued before the blood HSV PCR results were back. Acyclovir was not discontinued until the results were available in only 12 of 134 neonates who had all negative results and available information about management. Statistical analysis showed that blood HSV PCR did not significantly impact the management of these neonates. Conclusions: Our study does not support the use of blood HSV PCR in the evaluation of neonatal HSV infection specifically in institutions where the test is not performed in-house, because the test results are not available in a timely fashion to have an impact on the management of these neonates.