A comparison of three methods for detecting respiratory viruses

Abstract

Objective To screen a sensitive method for detecting respiratory viruses from three different methods of singleplex conventional PCR, multiplex conventional PCR and multiplex real-time RT- PCR. Methods Parallel examination of 17 respiratory viruses was performed on 73 throat swab specimens collected from patients with upper respiratory tract infection by the three methods. The detection rates of dif- ferent respiratory viruses were used as evaluating indicator for the three methods. Results The numbers of respiratory viruses detected by singleplex conventional PCR, muhiplex conventional PCR and multiplex real- time PCR were 56, 41 and 87, respectively. Conclusion The multiplex real-time RT-PCR might be used for the detection of respiratory viruses in laboratory as its high detection rate in comparison with the other two methods. Key words: Respiratory virus; Conventional PCR; Multiplex RT-PCR; Multiplex real-time RT- PCR