ABSTRACT
Human rotavirus is the major etiologic agent of infantile diarrhea on a worldwide scale. In this study, rotaviruses were detected by reverse-transcription PCR in 42 of 83 stool specimens from children below the age of 3 years with acute diarrhea in Bangkok, Thailand, between November 1998 and August 1999. G and P types of all samples were characterized by restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and multiplex PCR typing assay, respectively. Strain G1P[8] (76.1%) was the predominant type, followed by G1P[6] (2.4%). Strain G1 combined with mixed P[8]/P[6] was identified in 2 specimens (4.8%) and 7 untypeable G strains (16.7%) were observed. This information on the circulating G and P combinations should be useful for understanding the epidemiology of human rotavirus in Bangkok, Thailand.
Subject(s)
Acute Disease , Base Sequence , Child Welfare , Child, Preschool , DNA Restriction Enzymes/analysis , Gastroenteritis/classification , Genetic Markers/genetics , Genotype , Humans , Infant , Infant Welfare , Infant, Newborn , Molecular Sequence Data , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Rotavirus Infections/classification , Serotyping , Thailand/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Serum and saliva samples from 23 patients known to be HBsAg-positive HBV carriers and 17 healthy control subjects were analyzed for hepatitis B virus (HBV) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All serum samples of the HBV carriers were positive for HBsAg, with 21 also positive for HBV DNA. In comparison, 22 saliva samples of HBV carriers were positive for HBsAg whereas only 11 of the 23 tested were positive for HBV DNA. Based on these results we have arrived at the conclusion that the saliva of HBV carriers might be potentially infectious and also that saliva testing could serve as an alternative technique for identifying HBV carriers.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Carrier State/diagnosis , DNA, Viral/analysis , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Female , Hepatitis B/diagnosis , Hepatitis B Surface Antigens/analysis , Hepatitis B virus/isolation & purification , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Saliva/immunology , ViremiaABSTRACT
Rotavirus represents the major cause of dehydrating diarrhea among infants and young children on worldwide scale and has recently become the target of research aimed at developing a vaccine. To that end, screening tests of clinical specimens ought to provide high sensitivity and specificity. Hence, in order to achieve that aim we compared a commercially available latex agglutination (LA) kit with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers amplifying the gene for the major neutralization antigen in 71 stool samples of children with acute gastroenteritis during November 1998-April 1999. Based on accuracy (76.05%), specificity (86.8%) and sensitivity (63.6%) determined for LA with RT-PCR serving as the gold standard, we recommend LA for field studies where speed and simplicity are crucial. Yet, for the purpose of further studies as to epidemiology and vaccine trials RT-PCR with its higher specificity and sensitivity will be required.