E-Book Overview
Univ. of London, UK. Internationally recognized experts present current techniques for detecting many of the major viruses that afflict mankind. Includes: influenza, hepatitis, herpes, polio, mumps, HIV, and many more. For researchers and clinicians. Plastic-comb binding, hardcover also available. DNLM: Virus Diseases--diagnosis.
E-Book Content
1 Rapid Detection of Adenovirus from Fecal Specimens Tanvir Tabish, Alan Warnes, and Stuart Clark 1. Introduction In 1953, the first adenovirus was isolated from a human and, subsequently, 47 types have been shown to exist. Adenoviruses are now classified mto six subgroups (A-F), which are based on their hemagglutmatlon properties (I). They have a lcosahedron structure that contains double-stranded lmear DNA of 45,000 basepan-s. Although, adenovlruses can cause a range of infections m humans, including conJunctivltls, pharyngltls, and gastroenterltls, this chapter focuses on gastroenterlc adenoviruses and their rapid detection m fecal samples. The incidence of adenovn-al infections causing gastroenterms ISwell-documented, accounting for 5-l 5% of all viral infections, which occur throughout the year with no particular seasonal peak (2). The incubation period IS dosedependent, but usually takes 5-8 d to the onset of clinical symptoms. The ability of adenovu-uses to infect the intestinal tract 1sdue to their ablllty to survive low pH levels where high titers of virus particles can be produced and subsequently excreted. Unlike respiratory adenoviruses, those causing gastroenterltls are difficult to grow in culture, therefore, cross-reacting group proteins are commonly used as target antigens for m vitro dlagnostlc assays.Although there 1sconsiderable genetic variation between the different types of adenoviruses, the hexon gene contains highly conserved regions which when translated produce a crossreacting antigen (3). Thus, assaysthat w