title: Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction for virus infection diagnostics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The development of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (real-time qPCR) technology for the quantification and detection of the target genome with high sensitivity offers great advantages for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. This technique has become widely used for the diagnosis and assessment of viral infectious diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this review is to describe the technologies of real-time qPCR that have been developed recently, applications of the real-time qPCR on virus infectious diseases, and to discuss the circumstances of real-time qPCR in the area of virus infectious diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The possibility of false-positive and false-negative results always exists when performing real-time qPCR. Reducing these risks is important. The use of real-time qPCR in the field of diagnostics for viral infections is likely to increase. The standard of performance of real-time qPCR in each institute needs to be maintained, thus requiring the establishment of a framework for the standardization of assay quality among the laboratories responsible for the diagnosis of infectious diseases.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Department of Virology 1, 1-23-1 Toyoma, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan +81 3 5285 1111 ; +81 3 5285 2115 ; msaijo@nih.go.jp.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saijo
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morikawa
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurane