CONTEXT Preventing nosocomial transmission of influenza is essential to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with this infection. In October 2009, an outbreak of the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus occurred in a hematology ward of a children's hospital over a 21-day period and involved two patients and four healthcare workers. OBJECTIVE To investigate nosocomial transmission of the 200...

Following the emergence of the A(H1N1)pdm09 in humans, this novel influenza virus was reverse transmitted from infected people to swine population worldwide. In this study we investigated the molecular evolution of A(H1N1)pdm09 virus identified in pigs reared in a single herd. Nasal swabs taken from pigs showing respiratory distress were tested for influenza type A and A(H1N1)pdm09 by real-time...

During the 2009 H1N1 influenza A outbreak, 773 children were tested for influenza by direct fluorescent-antibody testing with PCR confirmation. Direct fluorescent-antibody testing has a specificity of 99.6% but a sensitivity of only 65.0%. Physicians should recognize diagnostic limitations of direct fluorescent-antibody testing, which missed one-third of infected individuals.

BACKGROUND A novel swine origin influenza virus (S-OIV) (H1N1) is spreading worldwide and threatens to become pandemic. OBJECTIVES Determine analytical sensitivity of selected commercially available rapid influenza antigen detection tests in detecting S-OIV H1N1. STUDY DESIGN Serial dilutions of two S-OIV isolates, one seasonal influenza A (H1N1) isolate and a nasopharyngeal aspirate from a...

BACKGROUND In response to the novel influenza A H1N1 outbreak in the NY City area, 6090 patient samples were submitted over a 5-week period for a total of 14,114 viral diagnostic tests, including rapid antigen, direct immunofluorescence (DFA), viral culture and PCR. Little was known about the performance of the assays for the detection of novel H1N1 in the background of seasonal H1N1, H3N2 and ...

Since the beginning of January 2008 sporadic cases of infections in humans caused by influenza A (H1N1) virusresistant to available anti-influenza drugs have been reported worldwide [1,2]. The World Health Organization (WHO) in its report published on 18 March 2009 indicated that during weeks 1-4 (28 December 08-24 January 09), the level of overall influenza activity in the world increased. Dur...

background: influenza viruses are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. the influenza virus pandemics, 1918, 1977, and especially the most recent one, a/h1n1/2009, made evident the need for generating recombinant influenza h1n1 antigens which are essential to develop both basic and applied research programs. among influenza virus proteins, haemagglutinin (ha) is a major surface antige...

Respiratory viral infection is a major cause of asthma exacerbations in both children and adults. Among the respiratory viruses, influenza virus is a particularly important pathogen due to its enormous morbidity and mortality in annual epidemics. The swine-origin influenza A virus, designated as A(H1N1)pdm09, emerged in the spring of 2009 and caused the first influenza pandemic in the 21st cent...

We evaluated the performance of four rapid influenza diagnostic test methods (RIDT) compared to real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR), for the detection of the novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) in August 2009. A total of 270 respiratory specimens were tested with rRT-PCR, where 74 of these were tested by BinaxNow (Inverness), 80 by QuickVue (Quide...