ABSTRACT
Avian influenza, an infectious disease of birds, is caused by type A strain of influenza virus. Within the first 3 months of 2006. 46 human cases of avian influenza in humans worldwide were found where of 31 have died with a mortality rate of about 67%. Therefore, the need for a rapid and sensitive method to diagnose the infection, subtype, and quantify the virus is of paramount importance in the management of this pandemic. Virology unit, Kuwait University, Mubarak hospital in Kuwait. 80 patients with lower respiratory tract infections. We have developed a sensitive and specific multiplex RT-PCR capable of detecting common nine respiratory viruses causing acute respiratory disease in Kuwait. Those found positive for influenza A virus, were then subjected to a quantitative Real-Time PCR to sub-type the virus as H5 and to measure the amount of virus in respiratory samples. A 189 bp fragment of the influenza virus A H5 gene was amplified with specific primers and quantitatively detected with probes supplied in the LightMix [TIB MOLBIOL, Berlin]. The supplied standard dilutions of influenza A H5 virus cDNA ranging from 101 to 106 copies/reaction allows the absolute quantification of the viral cDNA in the unknown samples. A standard curve using standard increasing dilutions of influenza A H5 ranging from 101 to 106 cDNA copies /ml was plotted to quantitate influenza A virus of the H5 subtype. The minimum detection limit was 10 copies/ml. Specificity of the primer/probe mixture was tested on samples containing rhino-, corona-, RSV, measles and mumps viruses. Out of the 10 of 80 [12.5%] patients with acute respiratory disease who were influenza virus A positive, none was found to be of the H5 sub-type of influenza A virus so far in Kuwait. The combination of the multiplex RT-PCR developed in our laboratory and the real time PCR provides a fast easy, specific, and accurate system for the detection of influenza A H 5 subtype
ABSTRACT
Hepatitis E virus [HEV] is one of the important causes of hepatitis epidemics in the developing world. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HEV antibodies in pediatric acute leukemics. Setting: The pediatric service of the National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Egypt. Subjects: One hundred and seventy five children, 88 newly diagnosed acute leukemic children and 87 healthy siblings of 42 of the patients as controls. ELISAtesting for anti-HEV IgM and anti-HEV IgG was done on the sera of the patients and controls. A higher exposure rate to HEV [IgG antibodies] was noticed in acute leukemia patients, 26/88 in comparison to 15/87, in the sibling control group. Acute HEV infection diagnosed by anti-HEV IgM Ab was higher in normal siblings [6%] compared to [2%] in leukemic children. Analysis showed that HEV seropositivity was seen mostly in leukemic children at preschool age [< 5 Y] and the exposure to HEV infection was higher among young adults [> 10 Y]. HEV seropositivity was higher among females leukemic children 15/26 [58%] compared to males 11/26 [42%]. Leukemic children living in rural area are exposed to a higher risk of hepatitis E infection [58%] compared to [42%] among urban population. Leukemic children with a previous history of blood transfusion showed significant increase in the seropositivity [69%] compared to [45%] in the non-transfused children. The data indicate a higher susceptibility of the children with acute leukemia for HEV infection. Ensuring a clean drinking water supply remains the best preventive strategy. Recombinant vaccines may be particularly useful for these patients