RESUMO
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) was detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The assay system employed rabbit anti-HSV-2-coated microplates to detect HSV in clinical specimens and the same reagent labelled with peroxidase as a conjugate. The HSV type 2 obtained from vero cell culture and normal cell lysate (NCL) were used as positive and negative reference antigens respectively. HSV was detected in 40 (9.93%) of vaginal swabs obtained from 403 pregnant women just before the deliveries and in 39 (9.68%) fluid samples collected immediately after birth from the mouths of 403 newborns. HSV was detected in five pairs of mother-newborn under investigation. There was no correlation between the incidence of HSV in mothers and newborns (p greater than 0.05).