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Published on: July 22, 2012
Diagnosis of astrovirus by reverse transcriptase PCR in stools from patients in the UK and Saudi Arabia
Background:
Astroviruses are becoming increasingly recognised as a cause of diarrhoea in children, and to a lesser extent, adults. Electron microscopy is the recognised standard for diagnosis but is not available in many centres.
Objectives:
This study set out to evaluate a RT-PCR method for the diagnosis of astrovirus in faecal specimens.
Study Design:
130 diarrhoeal stools were collected prospectively both from Saudi Arabia and Leicester, UK. The patients from each centre were age-matched. Twenty control isolates from food service staff without clinical illness were also collected. Both electron microscopy (EM) and RT-PCR (for astrovirus serotype 1) were used to diagnose astrovirus infection.
Results:
Of 23 PCR-positive specimens, only 17 were detected by EM. The prevalence of astrovirus serotype 1 was determined by PCR as 1.5% in Saudi Arabia and 4.6% in the UK.
Conclusion:
RT-PCR is a more sensitive alternative to EM for astrovirus serotype 1.
