An outbreak of aseptic meningitis due to echovirus 30 in a high school baseball club--possible role of severe exercise for a high attack rate.

In September 2008, an outbreak of aseptic meningitis caused by echovirus 30 occurred in Ota City, Gunma. Among the 26 people hospitalized, 17 were members of a high school baseball club. The attack rate within the club was as high as 40%.

Development of a new method for diagnosis of rubella virus infection by reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

We developed a useful method for the detection of rubella virus genome RNA by reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and compared the sensitivity of RT-LAMP with that of other virological tests: reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and virus isolation. The rubella virus genome was amplified by RT-LAMP from clinical isolates obtained between 1987 and 2004 with similar sensitivities to the Takahashi vaccine strain. The detection limit of RT-LAMP was compared with that of RT-PCR using the Takahashi vaccine strain.