Hospitalized patients with influenza A virus infection can shed detectable virus beyond the 5- to 7-day period traditionally considered the duration of infectivity. Additional research is needed to assess whether prolonging the duration of patient isolation is warranted to prevent nosocomial outbreaks during the influenza season.

Influenza A virus was detected at higher rates and for more extended time periods with real-time PCR than with cell cultures. We show here that, using the theranostic approach, rapid viral detection and reporting can provide for early implementation and assessment of available antiviral therapy.

Persistent infection of mice with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) is associated with polyclonal B cell activation, autoimmunity, and circulating hydrophobic IgG-containing immune complexes (ICs), which bind to the surfaces of uncoated ELISA plates in the presence of 0.05% Tween 20. We demonstrate here that hydrophobic IgG-containing ICs also appear naturally in the plasma of autoimmune MRL/lpr mice. These and the similar hydrophobic ICs of LDV-infected mice as well as pigs coincide on ELISA plate surfaces with TGF-beta, apparently in the form of an IgG-TGF-beta complex. Circulating hydrophobic IgG-containing ICs are also susceptible to considerable amplification in vitro by exposure to alkaline conditions. By this latter method, the fraction of in vivo hydrophobic IgG, relative to the maximum in vitro chemically inducible IgG, was found to be about 20% in the plasma of LDV-infected mice, 5% in normal mouse plasma, and less than about 2% in pig plasma. These results indicate the potential for both chemically induced and protein-binding contributions to the generation of hydrophobic IgG-containing molecules, and have implications for immunopathological mechanisms in autoimmunity and persistent virus infections.

After reading this review, readers should be able to describe the theory behind various molecular methods utilized for bacterial detection and list the advantages and disadvantages of conventional culture methods versus molecular methods.Microbiology exam 70803 questions and corresponding answer form are located after the CE Update article on page 437. AbstractBacterial infections, especially drug-resistant infections, continue to cause public health problems. While culture methods currently serve as the reference method for detecting and characterizing most bacterial infections, new molecular techniques provide the means for rapid, specific, and sensitive detection of pathogenic bacteria. Previously, molecular detection of bacteria focused on difficult-toculture or slow-growing bacteria; however, with the advent of more robust instrumentation, molecular assays are used to identify, detect, and track the epidemiology of drug-resistant bacteria and hospital-acquired bacteria. This review discusses select nucleic acid tests (NATs), nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), and their applications for detecting and characterizing bacterial pathogens.

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