Daniela Hučková, Katarína Kollárová
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) are alphaherpesviruses that infect, establish lifelong latency in, and subsequently reactivate from human neuronal ganglia. HSV-1 and HSV-2 and even some VZV infections may cause similar clinical symptoms and the causative agent cannot be distinguished based on the clinical features alone. The identification of the virus is important for the therapy management and for understanding the clinical progress and prognosis, especially in severe diseases (neurological, congenital infections, etc.). At present, serological methods combined with molecular methods, in particular PCR, have been used for laboratory diagnosis. Due to the lifelong latency of herpesviruses, all results should be interpreted together with clinical symptoms and other laboratory parameters.