Molecular diagnosis of influenza

Abstract

The past decade has seen tremendous developments in molecular diagnostic techniques. In particular, the development of PCR technology has enabled rapid and sensitive viral diagnostic tests to influence patient management. Molecular methods used directly on clinical material have an important role to play in the diagnosis and surveillance of influenza viruses. Molecular diagnostic tests that allow timely and accurate detection of influenza are already implemented in many laboratories. The combination of automated purification of nucleic acids with real-time PCR should enable even more rapid identification of viral pathogens such as influenza viruses in clinical material. The recent development of DNA microarrays to identify either multiple gene targets from a single pathogen, or multiple pathogens in a single sample has the capacity to transform influenza diagnosis. While molecular methods will not replace cell culture for the provision of virus isolates for antigenic characterisation, they remain invaluable in assisting our understanding of the epidemiology of influenza viruses.

Virus-inducible reporter genes as a tool for detecting and quantifying influenza A virus replication

“…Although they have the potential to become standard methodology, some questions exist about the sensitivity and reliability of the tests (Landry and Ferguson, 2003;Ruest et al, 2003). Finally, nucleic acidbased techniques such as real time multiplex PCR (Ellis and Zambon, 2002;Yang and Rothman, 2004) or microarrays (Kessler et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2002) can provide specific, sensitive and rapid diagnosis of clinical samples but are expensive and require significant expertise.…”

Development of Reverse Transcription-Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) Assay for Detection of Avian Influenza Viruses in Field Specimens

“…Various molecular diagnostic tests have been used for detection of influenza A viruses, such as reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) [5], microarray [4], nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) [3], real-time RT-PCR [16], mismatch amplification mutation assay (MAMA) PCR [8] and multiplex RT-PCR assay [2,24]. However, most of these methods require expensive and specialized instruments and reagents, and therefore may not be readily applicable, particularly in diagnostic laboratories in developing and underdeveloped countries or in frontline laboratories.…”

Finding a new drug and vaccine for emerging swine flu: What is the concept?

“…[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] However, a molecularbased diagnostic tool is usually required in atypical cases. [39][40][41][42][43][44][45] This is because although the immunology-based technique is cheaper and faster in diagnosis, it lacks specificity. New molecular-based diagnostic tools can provide the most specific result since the diagnosis is based on the exact sequence of the viral particle.…”