Secretory IgA antibody in cervicovaginal secretions from women with genital infection due to herpes simplex virus.

Sequential samples of cervicovaginal secretions from women with untreated first and recurrent episodes of genital infection due to herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) were assayed for IgA antibodies to HSV-2 by using fluorescent antibodies to human secretory piece (sIgA) and human IgA. Among women with first-episode genital herpes, sIgA antibody to HSV-2 was detected in 20 of 31 women from whom HSV was isolated from the cervix, compared with four of 13 women from whom it was not (P less than .05). Among women with first-episode genital herpes, the mean titer of sIgA antibody to HSV-2 peaked between days 9 and 16 of disease, whereas among women with recurrent genital HSV, the peak occurred at days 3-8 of disease. HSV-2 was not isolated from the cervix from any of 130 samples taken when titers of sIgA antibody to HSV-2 were greater than or equal to 1:2, compared with 98 of 259 samples taken when titers were less than or equal to 1:2 (P less than or equal to .01).