[Rapid detection of influenza virus A (AH1, AH3) and B by nested-polymerase chain reaction]

We applied the Nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for laboratory diagnosis of influenza virus infection. We used three primer sets for detection of influenza virus A (AH1, AH3) and B. The primer sets for each type (AH1, AH3, B) was able to detect specifically each type of influenza. We measured the sensitivity for detection of vaccine strains. The PCR method was able to detect 0.9 PFU/assey of AH1 type, 1.0 PFU/assey of AH3 type and 1.8 PFU/assey of B type. Out of 46 isolation negative but antibody positive cases, 38 cases were positive for PCR (82.6%). This method is sensitive and useful for rapid diagnosis of influenza virus infection.