title: Use of oral fluid to examine the molecular epidemiology of varicella zoster virus in the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
abstract: We investigated oral fluid (OF) as an alternative to sampling of rashes for varicella zoster virus (VZV) genotyping and further characterized VZV clade prevalence in the United Kingdom and Europe. VZV was detected in up to 91% of OF specimens. Paired OF and vesicle fluid samples contained identical VZV clades. While clades 1 and 3 were the most prevalent across the United Kingdom and Europe, in Western Europe, clade 5 viruses were circulating. Viruses from the same outbreak belonged to different clades, but no clade was associated with a severe-disease phenotype. OF is suitable and convenient for large-scale molecular epidemiological studies of VZV.
authors.affiliation: University College London, London. mark.quinlivan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quinlivan
authors.forename: Nitu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sengupta
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Papaevangelou
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sauerbrei
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grillner
authors.forename: Rossitsa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rousseva
authors.forename: Rosie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hague
authors.forename: Irja
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lutsar
authors.forename: Piia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jogi
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leca
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grytchol
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alain
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Breuer
mesh_terms: D002644:Chickenpox / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009055:Mouth / Q000821:virology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D015995:Prevalence; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology