title: Missed diagnosis of influenza B virus due to nucleoprotein sequence mutations, Singapore, April 2011.
abstract: A new influenza B variant was discovered in Singapore in April 2011 during diagnostic testing of a 3-year-old boy with respiratory symptoms. Influenza B virus was isolated from culture and confirmed by standard immunofluorescence testing, but was not detected by the routine, in-house influenza screening reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction assay that targets the nucleoprotein (NP) gene. Subsequent sequencing investigations demonstrated that several other published assays targeting NP could also fail to detect this novel variant.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Diagnosis Centre, Department of Laboratory Medicine, National University Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Koay
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D009981:Influenza B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012846:Singapore
chemical_list: D009698:Nucleoproteins; D012367:RNA, Viral