title: Latest developments and challenges in the diagnosis of human West Nile virus infection.
abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus responsible for an increasing number of human outbreaks of neuroinvasive disease in Europe and in North America. Notwithstanding the improvements in the knowledge of virus epidemiology and clinical course of infection and the development of new laboratory tests, the diagnosis of WNV infection remains challenging and many cases still remain unrecognized. WNV genome diversity, transient viremia with low viral load and cross-reactivity with other flaviviruses of the antibodies induced by WNV infection are important hurdles that require the diagnosis to be performed by experienced laboratories. Herein, we present and discuss the novel findings on the molecular epidemiology and clinical features of WNV infection in humans with special focus on Europe, the performance of diagnostic tests and the novel methods that have been developed for the diagnosis of WNV infection. A view on how the field might evolve in the future is also presented.
authors: Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, via A. Gabelli 63, 35121 Padova, Italy.
authors: Luisa
authors: L
authors: Barzon
authors: Monia
authors: M
authors: Pacenti
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Ulbert
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Palù
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D009656:North America; D012698:Serologic Tests; D019562:Viral Load; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: West Nile virus; blood; diagnosis; human; molecular test; neutralization test; serology test; serum; test performance; urine