title: Rapid diagnosis of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis due to coxsackievirus A24 variant by real-time one-step RT-PCR.
abstract: Coxsackievirus A24 variant is, together with enterovirus 70 and adenoviruses, the major etiological agent involved in acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis outbreaks worldwide. However, the standard virus isolation method followed by serotyping or VP1 region sequencing is time-consuming. A rapid method for the detection of coxsackievirus A24 variant from conjunctival swab specimens would be useful in the context of explosive and extensive outbreaks. A one-step real-time RT-PCR assay based on TaqMan technology was thus developed and assessed on 36 conjunctival swabs from outbreaks of conjunctivitis in Morocco in 2004 due to a coxsackievirus A24 variant and in Corsica in 2006 due to adenovirus type 3, and 83 virus strains including 41 coxsackievirus A24 variant collected in French Guiana and Guadeloupe in 2003, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003, in Morocco in 2004 and 42 other virus species genetically close or known to be responsible for conjunctivitis. All the conjunctival swabs from coxsackievirus A24 variant related outbreak and the 41 coxsackievirus A24 variant strains were tested positive by the RT-PCR assay within 4h. This novel single-tube real-time RT-PCR assay is sensitive and specific, and consists in a reliable and faster alternative to the viral culture for recent and future acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis outbreaks caused by coxsackievirus A24 variant.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Virologie, Centre National de Référence des Entérovirus, Hôpital E. Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France. nicolas.leveque@chu-lyon.fr
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lévêque
authors.forename: Idriss
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lahlou Amine
authors.forename: Remy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tcheng
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Falcon
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rivat
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dussart
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Muyembe
authors.forename: Jean-Jacques
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Chomel
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Norder
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eugene
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lina
mesh_terms: D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000821:virology; D003232:Conjunctivitis, Acute Hemorrhagic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D030015:Enterovirus C, Human / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005616:French Guiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D019430:Guadeloupe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013997:Time Factors