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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1998, p. 2652-2657, Vol. 36, No. 9
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Multicenter Evaluation of the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR Test with Cerebrospinal Fluid from Patients with Aseptic Meningitis

K. E. van Vliet,1 M. Glimåker,2 P. Lebon,3 P. E. Klapper,4 C. E. Taylor,5 M. Ciardi,6 H. G. A. M. van der Avoort,7 R. J. A. Diepersloot,8 J. Kurtz,9 M. F. Peeters,10 G. M. Cleator,11 and A. M. van Loon1,* for the European Union Concerted Action on Viral Meningitis and Encephalitis

University Hospital Utrecht1 and Diakonessenhuis Hospital,8 Utrecht, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven,7 and St. Elisabeth Hospital, Tilburg,10 The Netherlands; Danderyd Hospital, Danderyd, Sweden2; Hôpital Saint Vincent de Paul, Paris, France3; Manchester Royal Infirmary4 and Department of Pathological Sciences, University of Manchester,11 Manchester, The Public Health Laboratory, Newcastle upon Tyne,5 and John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford,9 United Kingdom; and Universitá di Roma "La Sapienza," Rome, Italy6

Received 14 November 1997/Returned for modification 15 January 1998/Accepted 11 June 1998

The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was compared with viral culture for the detection of enteroviruses in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens. In a multicenter study in which nine laboratories participated, a total of 476 CSF specimens were collected from patients with suspected aseptic meningitis. Sixty-eight samples were positive by PCR (14.4%), whereas 49 samples were positive by culture (10.4%), demonstrating that the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test was significantly more sensitive than culture (P < 0.001). After discrepancy analysis the sensitivity and specificity of the Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test obtained by using viral culture as the "gold standard" were 85.7 and 93.9%, respectively. Our results with the CSF specimens collected in different countries demonstrate that the Amplicor test is capable of detecting a large variety of enterovirus serotypes and epidemiologically unrelated isolates in CSF specimens from patients with aseptic meningitis. The Amplicor Enterovirus PCR test is a rapid assay which can be routinely performed with CSF samples and is an important improvement for the rapid diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University Hospital Utrecht, Department of Virology, G04.428, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-30-2507629. Fax: 31-30-2505426. E-mail: a.m.vanloon{at}lab.azu.nl.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, September 1998, p. 2652-2657, Vol. 36, No. 9
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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