Diagnosis of astrovirus by reverse transcriptase PCR in stools from patients in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
BACKGROUND
Astroviruses are becoming increasingly recognised as a cause of diarrhoea in children, and to a lesser extent, adults. Electron microscopy is the recognised standard for diagnosis but is not available in many centres.


OBJECTIVE
This study set out to evaluate a RT-PCR method for the diagnosis of astrovirus in faecal specimens.


METHODS
130 diarrhoeal stools were collected prospectively both from Saudi Arabia and Leicester, UK. The patients from each centre were age-matched. Twenty control isolates from food service staff without clinical illness were also collected. Both electron microscopy (EM) and RT-PCR (for astrovirus serotype 1) were used to diagnose astrovirus infection.


RESULTS
Of 23 PCR-positive specimens, only 17 were detected by EM. The prevalence of astrovirus serotype 1 was determined by PCR as 1.5% in Saudi Arabia and 4.6% in the UK.


CONCLUSIONS
RT-PCR is a more sensitive alternative to EM for astrovirus serotype 1.
Akhter
J
J
King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Shi
M
M
Qadri
S M
SM
Myint
S H
SH