Evaluation of real-time RT-PCR Rhino&EV/Cc r-gene(®) (bioMérieux) kit versions 1 and 2 for rhinovirus detection.

Background: Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are frequent etiologic agents of tract infections, ranging from benign upper to potentially life-threatening lower respiratory tract infections. Diagnosis is based on molecular methods. 169 HRV types, belonging to species A, B and C, have been identified.

Variations in cerebrospinal fluid viral loads among enterovirus genotypes in patients hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed meningitis due to enterovirus.

Background: Acute enterovirus (EV) meningitis is a major cause of hospitalization among adults and children. It is caused by multiple EV genotypes assigned to 4 species (EV-A, EV-B, EV-C, and EV-D).

Methods: We determined viral loads in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 156 patients of all ages with EV meningitis during a 5-year observational prospective study.

Improvement of the management of infants, children and adults with a molecular diagnosis of Enterovirus meningitis during two observational study periods.

Enteroviruses (EVs) are a major cause of aseptic meningitis, and RNA detection using molecular assay is the gold standard diagnostic test. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an EV positive diagnosis on the clinical management of patients admitted for meningitis over the course of two observational study periods (2005 and 2008-09) in the same clinical departments. We further investigated in multivariate analysis various factors possibly associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) in all age groups (infants, children, and adults).

Quantitative real-time RT-PCR assay for research studies on enterovirus infections in the central nervous system.

Human enteroviruses are the most frequent cause of aseptic meningitis and are involved in other neurological infections. Qualitative detection of enterovirus genomes in cerebrospinal fluid is a prerequisite in diagnosing neurological diseases. The pathogenesis of these infections is not well understood and research in this domain would benefit from the availability of a quantitative technique to determine viral load in clinical specimens.

Diagnosis of human parechovirus infections of the central nervous system with a commercial real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction kit and direct genotyping of cerebrospinal fluid specimens.

We screened 100 cerebrospinal fluid specimens for the human parechoviruses (HPeV) genome with the commercial parechovirus r-gene™ kit, which allows results to be available in a clinically relevant time frame. HPeV infection was diagnosed in 4 infants (<4 months) and all genotyped viruses were HPeV3.

Prospective genotyping of human rhinoviruses in children and adults during the winter of 2009-2010.

Background: About 100 serotypes of human rhinovirus (HRV), classified into two species, have been identified by 1990. Uncultivable HRV variants have recently been identified and designated a new species. Recent improved diagnosis has led to a re-appraisal of the clinical impact of HRV infections in lower respiratory diseases.

Prospective identification of enteroviruses involved in meningitis in 2006 through direct genotyping in cerebrospinal fluid.

Enterovirus infections were investigated with special emphasis on performing rapid molecular identification of enterovirus serotypes responsible for aseptic meningitis directly in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Enterovirus genotyping was carried out directly with specimens tested for the diagnostic procedure, using two seminested PCR assays designed to amplify the complete and partial gene sequences encoding the VP1 and VP4/VP2 capsid proteins, respectively. The method was used for identifying the enterovirus serotypes involved in meningitis in 45 patients admitted in 2005.

Prospective identification of HEV-B enteroviruses during the 2005 outbreak.

Enteroviruses (EVs) represent the main etiological agents of epidemics of viral meningitis and especially the serotypes related to the human enterovirus B species. Genetic typing by sequencing a PCR-amplified portion of the genome has proved to be useful for identifying EVs and is more rapid than standard seroneutralization tests. However, prospective genotyping has not been reported in routine practice within a clinical diagnostic laboratory.

Improved diagnosis on a daily basis of enterovirus meningitis using a one-step real-time RT-PCR assay.

The detection of the enterovirus genome in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) by PCR techniques has proved to be more sensitive than traditional cell culture for the diagnosis of enterovirus meningitis. However, PCR assays are time consuming and labor intensive, particularly if separate hybridization steps are used to confirm the specificity of positive findings. The aim of this study was to develop a one-step real-time RT-PCR assay with LightCycler (LC) technology that was sensitive, rapid, and easy to perform in routine practice.

Virucidal efficacy of glutaraldehyde against enteroviruses is related to the location of lysine residues in exposed structures of the VP1 capsid protein.

Glutaraldehyde (GTA) is a potent virucidal disinfectant whose exact mode of action against enteroviruses is not understood. Earlier reports showed that GTA reacts preferentially with the VP1 capsid protein of echovirus 25 and poliovirus 1 and that GTA has affinity for exposed lysine residues on proteins. To investigate further the inactivation of enteroviruses by GTA, seven strains were selected on the basis of differences in their overall number and the positions of lysine residues in the amino acid sequences of the VP1 polypeptide.

Molecular evidence of persistent echovirus 13 meningoencephalitis in a patient with relapsed lymphoma after an outbreak of meningitis in 2000.

Enteroviral meningoencephalitis was diagnosed in a patient with an immunodeficiency syndrome acquired after treatment with rituximab for a relapsed primary B-cell lymphoma. A second meningoencephalitic episode was diagnosed 6 months later and was successfully treated with a combination of immunoglobulins and pleconaril. The infection was persistent since the enterovirus genome was detected in five sequential specimens of cerebrospinal fluid collected over 9 months.

Genetic diversity of echovirus 30 during a meningitis outbreak, demonstrated by direct molecular typing from cerebrospinal fluid.

Echovirus 30 is one of the enterovirus serotypes isolated most frequently in meningitis cases. The genetic diversity of echovirus 30 was investigated in patients hospitalised during an outbreak in 2000 in Clermont-Ferrand, France. A nested reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay was developed for qualitative analysis of the echovirus 30 VP1 encoding sequence directly from cerebrospinal fluid.

Enterovirus meningitis in adults in 1999-2000 and evaluation of clinical management.

Enterovirus meningitis is well documented in children. However, there is a paucity of reports in adults, despite the availability of genome detection (RT-PCR) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which provides a rapid and reliable diagnosis. The clinical course and management of 30 cases of entero-virus proven meningitis prospectively diagnosed between August 1999 and November 2000 in immunocompetent adults were analysed, and laboratory and clinical strategies evaluated.