Whole blood.
Please contact Clinical Virologist at Lab+ before requesting HSV PCR on a blood sample except when the sample has been collected from a newborn infant.Please register as a NOTE and send out this comment if the patient is an adult ""If the patient is NOT a newborn infant, the Clinical Virologist at LabPLUS MUST be contacted BEFORE requesting HSV or VZV PCR on blood.
Please note: In general, blood is NOT an appropriate specimen for the majority of clinical problems. There are two important exceptions: 1.Evaluation of a newborn for HSV should include a lesion swab, if available, also blood for HSV PCR. 2. Investigation of NANBNC acute liver failure,particularly when fever is present. Absence of vesicular rash does not exclude HSV hepatitis.