Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
3370550 Journal of Clinical Virology 2008 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

BackgroundRespiratory infections are the most common infectious diseases in humans worldwide and are a leading cause of death in children less than 5 years of age.ObjectivesIdentify candidate pathogens in pediatric patients with unexplained respiratory disease.Study designForty-four nasopharyngeal washes collected during the 2004–2005 winter season from pediatric patients with respiratory illnesses that tested negative for 7 common respiratory pathogens by culture and direct immunofluorescence assays were analyzed by MassTag-PCR. To distinguish human enteroviruses (HEV) and rhinoviruses (HRV), samples positive for picornaviruses were further characterized by sequence analysis.ResultsCandidate pathogens were detected by MassTag PCR in 27 of the 44 (61%) specimens that previously were rated negative. Sixteen of these 27 specimens (59%) contained picornaviruses; of these 9 (57%) contained RNA of a recently discovered clade of rhinoviruses. Bocaviruses were detected in three patients by RT-PCR.ConclusionsOur study confirms that multiplex MassTag-PCR enhances the detection of pathogens in clinical specimens, and shows that previously unrecognized rhinoviruses, that potentially form a species HRV-C, may cause a significant amount of pediatric respiratory disease.

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Life Sciences Immunology and Microbiology Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
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