Compositions, methods and kits to detect herpes simplex virus nucleic acid

1. An isolated nucleic acid comprising the sequence of SEQ ID Nos: 13, 14, 19, or 20 or the reverse complement thereof, or the RNA equivalent of any of these sequences, and a detectable label.

2. The isolated DNA or RNA sequence according to claim 1 , wherein said sequence is the reverse complement of SEQ ID Nos: 13, 14, 19, or 20.

3. The isolated nucleic acid sequence according to claim 1 , wherein the sequence is RNA.

4. The isolated nucleic acid sequence according to claim 1 , wherein the sequence is double stranded DNA.

5. The isolated nucleic acid sequence of claim 4 , wherein one end of a strand of the nucleic acid is joined to one end of another strand of the nucleic acid by an adapter.

6. The isolated nucleic acid sequence of claim 5 , wherein each end of a strand is joined to an end of another strand by adapters, thereby forming a circularized double stranded nucleic acid.

7. The isolated nucleic acid sequence of claim 1 , wherein the label is AE.

8. A method of detection HSV-1 or HSV-2 RNA within a sample, comprising separating HSV-1 or HSV-2 RNA from other sample components by attachment to a support, amplifying the HSV-1 or HSV-2 RNA by transcription mediated amplification, contacting amplification product resulting from the amplification with a nucleic acid according to claim 1 , wherein presence of a detectable signal from the label indicates presence of HSV-1 or HSV-2 RNA within the sample.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the attachment to the support is performed using a target capture system comprising a target-specific capture probe of HSV-1 or HSV-2.

10. The isolated nucleic acid of claim 1 comprising the sequence of SEQ ID Nos: 13, 14, 19, or 20.