Detection of Bordetella pertussis and respiratory synctial virus in air samples from hospital rooms.

Objective: To evaluate the distribution of Bordetella pertussis and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the hospital setting.

Design: Air samples were collected using filters in the hospital rooms of 12 children with pertussis and 27 children with RSV infection. Material eluted from these filters was subjected to RSV- and B pertussis-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification.

Rapidly recurrent enteroviral meningitis in non-immunocompromised infants caused by different viral strains.

Repeated episodes of enteroviral meningitis occurring within a 1-month period in two non-immunocompromised infants were investigated using molecular techniques to distinguish persistent or recrudescent infection from new infection. Viral RNA from cerebrospinal fluid was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, cloned, and the nucleic acid sequences determined. This analysis demonstrated that both infants had recurrent episodes of meningitis caused by new infection with a distinct enterovirus strain.

Diagnosis of enteroviral central nervous system infection by polymerase chain reaction during a large community outbreak.

Enteroviruses are common causes of localized and systemic infection in patients of all ages and are the most frequent cause of epidemic aseptic meningitis in the United States. We have developed a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for rapid diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis. This assay was applied to 257 CSF specimens during a large community outbreak of enterovirus disease; 109 (97%) of 112 enterovirus culture-positive CSF samples contained enterovirus RNA.

Detection of varicella-zoster virus DNA in air samples from hospital rooms.

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a highly contagious infectious agent that causes outbreaks in institutional settings. Transmission of VZV is felt to occur following direct contact with an infected individual and by aerosol spread. To document the aerosolization of VZV, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was used to detect VZV DNA in air samples obtained from hospital rooms of patients with active VZV infection.