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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2005, p. 1138-1141, Vol. 43, No. 3
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.3.1138-1141.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Detection of Human Metapneumovirus Antigens in Nasopharyngeal Secretions by an Immunofluorescent-Antibody Test

Department of Pediatrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

Received 7 September 2004/ Returned for modification 14 October 2004/ Accepted 20 October 2004

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered pathogen associated with respiratory tract infections, primarily in young children, immunocompromised individuals, and elderly individuals. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) has been reported to be a more sensitive method for the diagnosis of hMPV infections than virus isolation by culture and serological study. However, there has been no report on rapid methods, such as an immunofluorescent-antibody test or an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, for the detection of hMPV antigens in nasopharyngeal secretions. In this study, we compared an indirect immunofluorescent-antibody test (IFA) with a monoclonal antibody with RT-PCR for detection of hMPV in nasal secretions from 48 hospitalized children with respiratory tract infections. Fifteen of the 48 children were positive for hMPV by RT-PCR. IFA results were positive for 11 of the 15 RT-PCR-positive children (sensitivity, 73.3%) and 1 of the 33 RT-PCR-negative children (specificity, 97.0%). Although the sensitivity of IFA is lower than that of RT-PCR, IFA is a rapid and useful test for the diagnosis of hMPV infections in children.

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