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Development and evaluation of a real‐time PCR assay for rapid identification and semi‐quantitation of measles virus
Author(s) -
Thomas Brenda,
Beard Stuart,
Jin Li,
Brown Kevin E.,
Brown David W.G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.20997
Subject(s) - measles virus , virology , measles , real time polymerase chain reaction , virus , viral load , viral culture , morbillivirus , paramyxoviridae , serial dilution , biology , mononegavirales , throat , medicine , viral disease , gene , vaccination , pathology , biochemistry , alternative medicine , anatomy
A real‐time PCR assay for measles virus was designed and validated using clinical samples including oral fluids, sera, urines, throat swabs, blood samples, and nasopharyngeal aspirates. The test was specific for measles virus, with a slightly higher sensitivity compared to the conventional nested PCR. Calculation of viral genome number in these samples, by comparison with a standard curve prepared from dilutions of cloned measles virus H gene, indicated that, overall, serum samples tended to have a lower viral load than oral fluid samples, and that the viral load decreased with increasing time after onset of symptoms. The real‐time PCR is considered to be a sensitive and specific alternative to the conventional measles PCR, especially in situations where early and rapid diagnosis are important. J. Med. Virol. 79:1587–1592, 2007. © Wiley‐Liss, Inc.