This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kuypers, J. Articles by Morrow, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kuypers, J. Articles by Morrow, R.

Comparison of Real-Time PCR Assays with Fluorescent-Antibody Assays for Diagnosis of Respiratory Virus Infections in Children

Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington

Received 31 January 2006/ Returned for modification 28 March 2006/ Accepted 9 May 2006

Conventional fluorescent-antibody (FA) methods were compared to real-time PCR assays for detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza virus type A (FluA), parainfluenza virus types 1, 2, and 3 (PIV1, PIV2, and PIV3), human metapneumovirus (MPV), and adenovirus (AdV) in 1,138 specimens from children with respiratory illnesses collected over a 1-year period. At least one virus was detected in 436 (38.3%) specimens by FA and in 608 (53.4%) specimens by PCR (P < 0.001). Specimen quality was inadequate for FA in 52 (4.6%) specimens; 13 of these (25%) were positive by PCR. In contrast, 18 (1.6%) specimens could not be analyzed by PCR; 1 of these was positive by FA. The number of specimens positive only by PCR among specimens positive by PCR and/or FA was 18 (7.0%) of 257 for RSV, 18 (13.4%) of 134 for FluA, 25 (64.1%) of 39 for PIV1, 8 (88.9%) of 9 for PIV2, 17 (30.1%) of 55 for PIV3, and 101 (76.5%) of 132 for AdV. MPV was detected in 6.6% of all specimens and in 9.5% of the 702 specimens negative by FA. The mean number of virus copies per milliliter in specimens positive by both PCR and FA was significantly higher, at 6.7 x 10⁷, than that in specimens positive only by PCR, at 4.1 x 10⁴ (P < 0.001). The PCR assays were significantly more sensitive than FA assays for detecting respiratory viruses, especially parainfluenza virus and adenovirus. Use of real-time PCR to identify viral respiratory pathogens in children will lead to improved diagnosis of respiratory illness.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Landry, M. L., Cohen, S., Ferguson, D. (2008). Prospective Study of Human Metapneumovirus Detection in Clinical Samples by Use of Light Diagnostics Direct Immunofluorescence Reagent and Real-Time PCR. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46: 1098-1100 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Letant, S. E., Ortiz, J. I., Bentley Tammero, L. F., Birch, J. M., Derlet, R. W., Cohen, S., Manning, D., McBride, M. T. (2007). Multiplexed Reverse Transcriptase PCR Assay for Identification of Viral Respiratory Pathogens at the Point of Care. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 3498-3505 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Causse, M., Garcia-Mayorgas, A. D., Gutierrez, J. B., Casal, M. (2007). Preliminary Evaluation of a Multiplex Reverse Transcription-PCR Assay Combined with a New DNA Chip Hybridization Assay for Detecting Respiratory Syncytial Virus. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45: 3811-3813 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Peck, A. J., Englund, J. A., Kuypers, J., Guthrie, K. A., Corey, L., Morrow, R., Hackman, R. C., Cent, A., Boeckh, M. (2007). Respiratory virus infection among hematopoietic cell transplant recipients: evidence for asymptomatic parainfluenza virus infection. Blood 110: 1681-1688 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chen, W., He, B., Li, C., Zhang, X., Wu, W., Yin, X., Fan, B., Fan, X., Wang, J. (2007). Real-time RT-PCR for H5N1 avian influenza A virus detection. J Med Microbiol 56: 603-607 [Abstract] [Full Text]