title: Dynamic quantification of avian influenza H7N9(A) virus in a human infection during clinical treatment using droplet digital PCR.
abstract: This study involved a human infection with avian influenza H7N9(A) virus in Zhejiang province, the first one after implementing the closure measures of living poultry markets in China. The clinical symptoms, epidemiological and virological characteristics of the case were described briefly, and as the emphasis, H7N9 virus was detected quantitatively and continuously from the collected samples in 10 different periods of the patient's treatment in order to reveal changes of viral load in patient's body during the treatment. This study first used reverse-transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) assays to monitor viral load dynamically for human H7N9 infection, synchronously performing real-time RT-PCR as a reference technology to obtain more comprehensive data for comparison. Our results indicated that RT-ddPCR compared to real-time RT-PCR is more sensitive and accurate for quantifying H7N9 viral load without the use of standard curves. Furthermore it can provide reference data for clinical policies including infectivity judgement, ward transferring and therapy adjustment for the patient during treatment.
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: College of Mathematics, Physics and Information Engineering, Jiaxing University, Jiahang Road 118, Jiaxing 314001, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Heng-Hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Fei
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Ji-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Pei-Yan
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Li-Xia
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Yong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology, Jiaxing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenqiao Road 486, Jiaxing 314050, China. Electronic address: 275472076@qq.com.
authors.forename: Zhong-Wen
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006801:Humans; D064766:Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000821:virology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D019562:Viral Load
keywords: Absolute quantification; Avian influenza; Droplet digital PCR; H7N9; Real-time PCR; Viral load