ABSTRACT
Abstract Background: Viral conjunctivitis are the most frequent infections in ophthalmology clinics. The diagnosis is usually relying on clinical findings and medical history. However, topical antibiotics are often used unnecessarily addition to symptomatic treatment because of unsure agents. We aimed to detect the Adenovirus, Coxsackievirus and Enterovirus from conjunctiva and pharyngeal samples of patients. Methods: The conjunctiva and pharyngeal samples of the patients with conjunctivitis were taken by Virocult transport media and kept at -80 ºC up to study day. Adenovirus spp, Enterovirus 70 and Enterovirus 71, Coxsackie A24 and Coxsackie A16 were detected by real-time PCR. Samples from healthy health care workers of ophthalmology clinic were used for control group. Results: A total of 176 samples (conjunctival and pharyngeal samples of 62 patient and 26 healthy subjects) were included. The mean age of 34 (55.7%) male and 27 (44.3%) female patients was 34 ± 17. Twenty five (40.3%) of the patients were receiving antibiotic drops at first visit. The main etiologic agent in conjunctival samples was found to be Adenovirus (46/62, 74.2%) followed by Enterovirus 70 (4/62, 6.4%) and Enterovirus 71 (4/62, 6.4%). Coxsackievirus 16 and 24 were also found in 2 patients (1/62 each, 1.6%). Pharyngeal samples were also positive for Adenovirus (20/62, 32.3%), Enterovirus 70 and 71 (7/62, 11.3% and 5/62, 8.1% respectively), Coxsackievirus 16 and 24 (2/62, 3.2% and 1/61, 1.6%). Conclusions: It is very difficult in viral conjunctivitis to make clinical differentiation caused by different agents because of common clinical signs and symptoms. In routine clinical work, the viral conjunctivitis usually related with Adenovirus. But almost one fourth of the patients' conjunctivitis were not related to Adenovirus, which shows the importance of the laboratory diagnostics. True diagnosis plays an important role on prevention of contamination and unnecessary use of antibiotics in viral conjunctivitis.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Pharynx/virology , DNA, Viral/isolation & purification , Adenoviridae/isolation & purification , Conjunctivitis, Viral/virology , Enterovirus/isolation & purification , Case-Control Studies , Adenoviridae/classification , Adenoviridae/genetics , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Acute Disease , Prospective Studies , Enterovirus/classification , Enterovirus/geneticsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: An outbreak of acute febrile illness occurred in the Republic of Korea Air Force boot camp from May to July 2011. An epidemiological investigation of the causative agent, which was of a highly infective nature, was conducted. METHODS: Throat swabs were carried out and a multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was performed to identify possible causative factors. RESULTS: The mean age of patients who had febrile illness during the study period was 20.24 years. The multiplex RT-PCR assay identified respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as the causative agent. The main symptoms were sore throat (76.0%), sputum (72.8%), cough (72.1%), tonsillar hypertrophy (67.9%), and rhinorrhea (55.9%). The mean temperature was 38.75degreesC and the attack rate among the recruits was 15.7% (588 out of 3750 recruits), while the mean duration of fever was 2.3 days. The prognosis was generally favorable with supportive care but recurrent fever occurred in 10.1% of the patients within a month. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first epidemiological study of an RSV outbreak that developed in a healthy young adult group. In the event of an outbreak of an acute febrile illness of a highly infective nature in facilities used by a young adult group, RSV should be considered among the possible causative agents.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Humans , Male , Young Adult , Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Body Temperature , Disease Outbreaks , Military Personnel , Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction , Oseltamivir/therapeutic use , Pharynx/virology , RNA, Viral/chemistry , Republic of Korea/epidemiology , Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections/drug therapy , Respiratory Syncytial Viruses/genetics , Sputum/virologySubject(s)
Animals , Cattle , Cattle Diseases/diagnosis , Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/isolation & purification , Foot-and-Mouth Disease/diagnosis , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Acute Disease , Body Fluids/virology , Cattle Diseases/virology , Esophagus/virology , Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/classification , Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/genetics , Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus/immunology , Foot-and-Mouth Disease/virology , Pharynx/virology , Reproducibility of Results , RNA, Viral/analysis , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/instrumentation , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/instrumentation , Sensitivity and Specificity , Specimen Handling , Vaccination/veterinary , Viral Vaccines/immunologyABSTRACT
At the time of influenza A (H1N1) emergency, the WHO responded with remarkable speed by releasing guidelines and a protocol for a real-time RT-PCR assay (rRT-PCR). The aim of the present study was to evalúate the performance of the "Real Time Ready Influenza A/H1N1 Detection Set" (June 2009)-Roche kit in comparison to the CDC reference rRT-PCR protocol. The overall sensitivity of the Roche assay for detection of the Inf A gene in the presence or absence of the H1 gene was 74.5 %. The sensitivity for detecting samples that were only positive for the Inf A gene (absence of the H1 gene) was 53.3 % whereas the sensitivity for H1N1-positive samples (presence of the Inf A gene and any other swine gene) was 76.4 %. The specificity of the assay was 97.1 %. A new version of the kit (November 2009) is now available, and a recent evaluation of its performance showed good sensitivity to detect pandemic H1N1 compared to other molecular assays.
Durante la pandemia de influenza A (H1N1), la OMS recomendó algoritmos y protocolos de detección del virus mediante RT-PCR en tiempo real. El objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar el desempeño del equipo que comercializa la empresa Roche, Real Time Ready Influenza A/H1N1 Detection Set (junio de 2009), en comparación con el protocolo de RT-PCR en tiempo real de los CDC. La sensibilidad global del ensayo de Roche para la detección del gen Inf A en presencia o ausencia del gen H1 fue 74,5 %. La sensibilidad para la detección de muestras positivas solo para el gen Inf A (ausencia del gen H1) fue 53,3 % y la sensibilidad para la detección de muestras positivas para H1N1 (presencia del gen Inf A y cualquier otro gen porcino) fue 76,4 %. La especificidad fue 97,1 %. Existe una nueva versión del equipo (noviembre 2009) que, según se ha descrito, presenta buena sensibilidad en comparación con otros ensayos moleculares para detectar H1N1 pandémica.