Korean J Lab Med.  2010 Jun;30(3):289-294. 10.3343/kjlm.2010.30.3.289.

Comparison of R-mix Virus Culture and Multiplex Reverse Transcriptase-PCR for the Rapid Detection of Respiratory Viruses

• Lim G
• Park TS
• Suh JT
• Lee HJ

• KMID: 1781629
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/kjlm.2010.30.3.289

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Respiratory viral infections can become epidemic due to high contagiosity. Since there was no rapid diagnostic method for complete diagnosis in the past, diagnosis was solely made on the basis of clinical symptoms or the time of infection. With recent developments in rapid diagnostic methods like multiplex reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR, R-mix virus culture, etc., early detection and effective treatment of respiratory viral infections is possible. Herein, we compared the efficiency of multiplex RT-PCR and the R-mix virus culture for the rapid detection of respiratory viruses.
METHODS
We used 96 nasopharyngeal swab specimens for culturing respiratory viruses using R-mix (Diagnostics Hybrids Inc., USA). Afterwards, multiplex RT-PCR was performed using specimens stored at -70degrees C.
RESULTS
R-mix virus culture yielded positive results in 34 cases (35.4%) and multiplex RT-PCR in 73 cases (76.0%). Both methods yielded identical results in 51 cases (29 positive cases and 22 negative cases). Among 45 cases that showed different results, 40 showed negative results in R-mix virus culture and positive results in multiplex RT-PCR, and 1 showed positive result in R-mix virus culture and negative result in multiplex RT-PCR. Different viruses were detected in the remaining 4 cases by both the methods.
CONCLUSIONS
Multiplex RT-PCR provided faster results and had higher detection rates than R-mix virus culture. Further, unlike R-mix virus culture, multiplex RT-PCR can be used to identify new respiratory viruses. Therefore, multiplex RT-PCR is more useful than R-mix virus culture in the diagnosis of respiratory virus infection.

Keyword

R-mix virus culture; Respiratory virus detection; Multiplex respiratory RT-PCR

MeSH Terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Middle Aged
RNA, Viral/analysis
Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
Respiratory Tract Infections/*virology
Retrospective Studies
*Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
*Virus Cultivation
Virus Diseases/*diagnosis
Viruses/genetics/*isolation &purification