Quantitative real-time RT-PCR assay for research studies on enterovirus infections in the central nervous system

► A real-time RT-qPCR for enterovirus (EV) in cerebrospinal fluid was developed. ► An RNA chimera is used as internal control to monitor specimen process. ► Detection limit is 1875 copies/ml. ► The assay is reproducible and detects a large number of EV serotypes. ► The mean EV load in CSF specimens of patients with EV meningitis is 4.78 log10 copies/ml.