Primary cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in pregnancy: Diagnostic value of CMV PCR in saliva compared to urine at birth.

Background: Due to its ease of collection saliva was recently recommended as the preferred specimen, not only for screening, but also for diagnosis of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic performance of saliva PCR to urine PCR in infants born to mothers with primary CMV infection during pregnancy.

Study Design: We retrospectively analyzed available data of infants tested for CMV DNA in urine and saliva at birth.

Performance of the Elecsys Rubella IgG assay in the diagnostic laboratory setting for assessment of immune status.

Rubella in early pregnancy bears a high risk for congenital defects (e.g., cataracts, hearing loss, and heart disease) and for long-term sequelae in the newborn.

The value of CMV IgG avidity and immunoblot for timing the onset of primary CMV infection in pregnancy.

Background: Primary CMV infections in pregnancy are usually asymptomatic and only detected by serology. Estimating the onset of infection is a major diagnostic goal, since primary infections around conception and in early gestation hold a higher risk for congenital disease than those in later pregnancy.

Objectives: To assess the ability of serological supplementary CMV assays to date the onset of primary infection.

Use of cytomegalovirus hyperimmunoglobulin for prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus disease: a retrospective analysis.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the current prenatal "off-label use" of cytomegalovirus hyperimmunoglobulin (CMV-HIG) in the prevention and treatment of congenital CMV (cCMV) infection, including the long-term outcome of the children.

Methods: This retrospective observational study comprised mothers and their children, born between January 1, 2006, and October 30, 2010. Prenatal CMV-HIG was administered after diagnosis of primary CMV infection of the mother.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) seroprevalence in pregnant women, bone marrow donors and adolescents in Germany, 1996-2010.

In Germany, studies on the IgG seroprevalence in pregnancy and in women of childbearing age are rare. Therefore, we retrospectively evaluated the CMV IgG seropositive rate in 40,324 pregnant women as well as in 31,093 female and male bone marrow donors over 15 consecutive years (1996-2010). Furthermore, the result of a study conducted in 1999 investigating 1,305 healthy adolescents with known ethnicity was included.

Development and evaluation of an automatable focus reduction neutralisation test for the detection of measles virus antibodies using imaging analysis.

A plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT) is still regarded as the gold standard for the investigation of anti-measles immunity. In this study, an alternative simplified automatable focus reduction neutralisation test (AFRNT) based on the classical PRNT was developed. The AFRNT uses the conventional Edmonston strain of measles, immunoperoxidase staining with monoclonal antibodies, and automated plaque counts performed with AID ViruSpot software.

Intrauterine transmission and clinical outcome of 248 pregnancies with primary cytomegalovirus infection in relation to gestational age.

Background: The risk of intrauterine cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and disease in the fetus or newborn largely depends on time of primary maternal infection during pregnancy.

Objectives: Prospective cohort study of pregnancy outcome in relation to gestational age at primary maternal CMV infection.

Study Design: In a total of 248 pregnancies with primary infection the onset of infection was determined by IgG seroconversion, IgG avidity and/or onset of clinical symptoms.

Diagnosis of recent primary rubella virus infections: significance of glycoprotein-based IgM serology, IgG avidity and immunoblot analysis.

Reliable serodiagnosis of rubella virus (RV) infections requires discrimination of specific IgM induced by primary rubella from persistent, reactivated or non-specific IgM reactivity. Sera from 130 pregnant women with recent or past RV infection/vaccination, persistent IgM or negative rubella serology, 26 patients with other acute infections and 5 patients with rheumatoid factor-positivity were analyzed for RV-specific IgM by ELISA coated with whole-virus lysate or native glycoprotein, followed by determination of IgG avidity and E2-specific IgG using lysate-coated ELISA and non-reducing immunoblot. Compared to a reference μ-capture IgM ELISA, the sensitivity for diagnosing recent rubella infection/vaccination was 90.

Immunity status of adults and children against poliomyelitis virus type 1 strains CHAT and Sabin (LSc-2ab) in Germany.

Background: In October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT. Both strains were historically used as oral vaccines, but the Sabin type 1 strain was acknowledged to be more attenuated. In Germany, vaccination against poliomyelitis was introduced in 1962 using the oral polio vaccine (OPV) containing Sabin strain LSc-2ab.

Risk of fetal hydrops and non-hydropic late intrauterine fetal death after gestational parvovirus B19 infection.

Background: Risk assessment of parvovirus B19 (B19)-associated fetal complications following gestational B19 infection remains controversial.

Objectives: To determine the risk of fetal hydrops or non-hydropic late intrauterine fetal death following acute maternal B19 infection at defined gestational weeks.

Study Design: Observational cohort study of pregnant women with serologic evidence of acute B19 infection.

No detection of human bocavirus in amniotic fluid samples from fetuses with hydrops or isolated effusions.

Background: Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a recently identified parvovirus associated with respiratory disease in infants. Animal bocaviruses have been shown to cause intrauterine infection, fetal anasarca and abortion in late gestation.

Objectives: To investigate whether HBoV infection is associated with fetal hydrops, fetal anemia or isolated fetal effusions.

Evaluation of a new ELISA for the detection of specific IgG to the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA-1).

Diagnosis of acute primary Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection is predominantly performed by serology. Detection of specific antibodies to defined EBV antigens is considered state of the art. Antibodies to EBNA-1 are not produced early in primary infection and a positive EBNA-1 serology is a sign of past infection.

Improvement of cytomegalovirus avidity testing by adjusting the concentration of CMV-specific IgG in test samples.

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of viral intrauterine infection. Primary CMV infection in early pregnancy bears a high risk of fetal damage. Accurate measurement of CMV-specific IgG avidity may help to improve the serodiagnosis of CMV-infected women by determining the time of infection and fetal outcome.

Seroreactivity to and avidity for recombinant antigens in toxoplasmosis.

To improve serodiagnostic methods for the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, a new test system has been developed and evaluated based on the use of recombinant antigens. Five recombinant Toxoplasma gondii antigens (ROP1, MAG1, SAG1, GRA7, and GRA8) were cloned in Escherichia coli, purified, and applied directly onto nitrocellulose membranes in a line assay (recomLine Toxoplasma). A panel of 102 sera from 25 pregnant women with supposed recent toxoplasmosis and from two symptomatic children was compared to a panel of 71 sera from individuals with past infection.

Defining the timing of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) outbreaks: an epidemiological study.

Background: Seasonal RSV infections occur every year and affect particularly children under six months of age. Passive immunoprophylaxis with monoclonal antibody Palivizumab is recommended in the period with high risk of RSV infection. This study aims to define the period for the southern part of Germany (Stuttgart area).

Fetal morbidity and mortality after acute human parvovirus B19 infection in pregnancy: prospective evaluation of 1018 cases.

Objective: To determine more precisely the incidence of fetal complications following maternal parvovirus B19 infection at various gestational ages.

Methods: An observational prospective study of 1018 pregnant women whose acute B19 infection was serologically confirmed in our laboratory.

Results: The observed rate of fetal death throughout pregnancy was 6.

Fast detection of Noroviruses using a real-time PCR assay and automated sample preparation.

Background: Noroviruses (NoV) have become one of the most commonly reported causative agents of large outbreaks of non-bacterial acute gastroenteritis worldwide as well as sporadic gastroenteritis in the community. Currently, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays have been implemented in NoV diagnosis, but improvements that simplify and standardize sample preparation, amplification, and detection will be further needed. The combination of automated sample preparation and real-time PCR offers such refinements.

LightCycler consensus PCR for rapid and differential detection of human erythrovirus B19 and V9 isolates.

Until recently, B19 virus was considered to be the only human pathogen of the genus erythrovirus. However, other non-B19 virus strains, such as V9, have now been isolated and are thought to cause infections clinically and serologically indistinguishable from those caused by B19 virus. Whereas B19 virus related isolates have a low genetic diversity of only 1-2%, nucleotide disparity of up to 12% was found for the new isolates, suggesting that non-B19 virus isolates may not be detectable using B19 virus specific PCR methods.

Quantification of parvovirus B19 DNA using COBAS AmpliPrep automated sample preparation and LightCycler real-time PCR.

The COBAS AmpliPrep instrument (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, D-68305 Mannheim, Germany) automates the entire sample preparation process of nucleic acid isolation from serum or plasma for polymerase chain reaction analysis. We report the analytical performance of the LightCycler Parvovirus B19 Quantification Kit (Roche Diagnostics) using nucleic acids isolated with the COBAS AmpliPrep instrument. Nucleic acids were extracted using the Total Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit (Roche Diagnostics) and amplified with the LightCycler Parvovirus B19 Quantification Kit.

Global distribution of rubella virus genotypes.

Phylogenetic analysis of a collection of 103 E1 gene sequences from rubella viruses isolated from 17 countries from 1961 to 2000 confirmed the existence of at least two genotypes. Rubella genotype I (RGI) isolates, predominant in Europe, Japan, and the Western Hemisphere, segregated into discrete subgenotypes; international subgenotypes present in the 1960s and 1970s were replaced by geographically restricted subgenotypes after approximately 1980. Recently, active subgenotypes include one in the United States and Latin America, one in China, and a third that apparently originated in Asia and spread to Europe and North America, starting in 1997, indicating the recent emergence of an international subgenotype.

Prenatal diagnosis of congenital rubella infection in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Objectives: This case report describes the clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of a case of acute rubella infection in the second trimester. The complex issues of prenatal diagnosis of a congenital rubella infection are discussed.

Methods: A 30-year-old woman presented with a fine macular rash at 15 weeks' gestation.