QUANTITATIVE VS. CONVENTIONAL PCR FOR DETECTION OF HUMAN ADENOVIRUSES IN WATER AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES.

Human Adenoviruses (HAdV) are notably resistant in the environment. These agents may serve as effective indicators of fecal contamination, and may act as causative agents of a number of different diseases in human beings. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and, more recently, quantitative PCR (qPCR) are widely used for detection of viral agents in environmental matrices.

Molecular detection of human adenovirus in sediment using a direct detection method compared to the classical polyethylene glycol precipitation.

Various effective methods have been developed to measure the concentration of viruses in sediment samples. However, there is need to standardize less laborious and simpler techniques. The objective of the present study was to compare two different methods to measure the concentration of viruses in soil samples.