Evaluation of real-time PCR for quantitative detection of Escherichia coli in beach water.

The current investigation evaluated the use of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for quantitative detection of Escherichia coli in marine beach water. Densities of E. coli in 263 beach water samples collected from 13 bathing beaches in Hong Kong between November 2008 and December 2009 were determined using both real-time PCR and culture-based methods.

Performance comparison of an in-house integrase genotyping assay versus the ViroSeq™ Integra48, and study of HIV-1 integrase polymorphisms in Hong Kong.

Background: Integrase inhibitors are recently prescribed to multi-class drug resistant HIV-1 patients in Hong Kong. Unlike pol gene, there are no FDA-approved genotypic resistance tests available for int. Limited studies compared the performance between an in-house and commercial integrase genotyping system.