Trinity Biotech, a leader in the production of immunoassays for sexually-transmitted-disease testing, has extended it CAPTIA™ reagent line to address the need for fast and accurate HSV type-specific testing with a new member to its infectious disease line of CAPTIA tests: CAPTIA HSV Type Specific test kits. CAPTIA type-specific serology is considered a major advance in the diagnosis of genital herpes and is essential in detecting asymptomatic or unrecognized infection.
     CAPTIA HSV Type Specific 1 and 2 are ELISA kits with several benefits. This method is 30 minutes faster than competing tests, and it has fewer procedural steps. The tests require no preincubation and are fully automatable. The CAPTIA tests also meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for HSV type-specific testing.
     The ready-to-use substrate, serum diluent, conjugates, and stop solution facilitate ease of use. Reagents in the kits feature a color-coded system to enhance quality by reducing possible operator error. Common reagents and procedures among CAPTIA infectious disease ELISA kits add to ease of use, increase turnaround time, and reduce costs.
     CAPTIA HSV Type Specific IgG ELISAs use recombinant glycoproteins gG-1 and gG-2, which are type-specific for HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies, respectively. These glycoproteins accurately differentiate between antibodies to HSV-1 and HSV-2, and decrease considerably, or eliminate, any potential cross-reactivity.
     Accurate type-specific gG-based serology tests are being recommended by the CDC as a public health measure and are often specifically requested or expected by patients.

Trinity Biotech
(800) 325-3424; www.trinitybiotech.com