Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Laboratory Manual

Back to Viral testing
Back to Specimen Collection
Back to Main Page of Lab Manual

Specimen Requirements

Scraping from an external lesion is the only acceptable specimen for both direct HSV and VZV antigen testing.

A sample for viral culture should be collected at the same time as the direct specimen.

Number of wells required with samples for testing are as follows:

VZV/DFA only	1 well
HSV/DFA only	2 wells
HSV + VZV/DFA	3 wells

Specimen collection kits and M4-RT (transport media) are available in the Microbiology Lab (East Campus, Rabb 350, ph: 617-667-2307), as well as in the West Campus Stat Lab (CC-2, ph: 617-754-3230).

Tests will be performed Monday through Friday.  Specimens received in the laboratory before 3 PM will be tested  on the same day and results will be available before 5 PM.  Specimens received after 3 PM or on a holiday or weekend will be tested on the next working day or the following Monday.

For any questions concerning the collection of specimens for DFA or viral culture, please call Virology at 617-667-3018.

The base of the lesion must be thoroughly scraped in order to obtain basal cells. If cells other than the basal cells are obtained, the specimen will be inappropriate for the DFA test. Care should be taken not to cause bleeding in order to avoid contamination of the specimen with red blood cells.

Select a clear vesicle (if possible) and remove the roof the vesicle by incising around the edge of the lesion with a sterile scalpel blade. Lift back the cap of the blister, and remove excess fluid by gently blotting with a swab. Place the swab into the viral transport media for viral culture. Refer to the diagram below.







Scrape the base of the lesion thoroughly with the scalpel blade to collect basal cells. Avoid gross bleeding. If no true vesicles are apparent, an attempt should be made to obtain the basal cell scraping from the papular lesions. Refer to the diagram below.

Spread the cellular material collected on the edge of the blade thinly over the well area of the slide. One drop of saline may be placed on the wells of the slide prior to spreading the cellular material to assist in disbursing cells. Refer to the diagram below.



Air dry for about 10 to 15 minutes until the smear no longer appears wet. Put the collected smear in the provided cardboard mailer.

Send both the smear and the viral culture sample to the Microbiology Lab.  The direct antigen smear should be sent at room temperature and the viral culture specimen must be on ice.

Back to Main Page of Lab Manual