An iCycler iQ real-time PCR assay targeting 18S rRNA Aspergillus-specific sequences was developed for the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA). Positive findings were obtained for 18 of 20 (90%) bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid specimens from patients with probable or confirmed IPA and were obtained for none of the 24 BAL samples from patients with no clinical evidence of asper...

A PCR-based assay have been previously described to detect Wuchereria bancrofti in mosquitoes and in human blood samples. However, the efficiency of PCR amplification may vary between samples depending on the presence of PCR inhibitors, leading sometimes to false negative results. To overcome this drawback, an internal standard plasmid (pWB11) was constructed. It can be added to each PCR reacti...

Renibacterium salmoninarum is a Gram-positive bacterium causing bacterial kidney disease (BKD) in susceptible salmonid fishes. Several quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays to measure R. salmoninarum infection intensity have been reported, but comparison and evaluation of these assays has been limited. Here, we compared 3 qPCR primer/probe sets for detection of R. salmoninarum in field samples of natu...

BACKGROUND Infection with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) continues to be one of the leading healthcare issues in Pakistan, affecting over 6 million people. The existence of HBsAg mutants is well documented in many countries. In Pakistan, HBV screening in the majority of the blood banks is performed by Rapid Detection Devices or ELISA tests. These tests are designed to detect HBsAg, but may not det...

INTRODUCTION Infectious mononucleosis (IM) caused by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is commonly diagnosed by detection of antibodies in the patient's sera. Differentiation of acute from chronic and differential diagnosis of EBV-induced IM from IM-like syndrome caused by human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is important. The objective of this study was to standardize and use polymerase chain reaction (PCR)...

Serological tests for Toxoplasma gondii are inadequate because antibody production either fails or is significantly delayed. This study in eastern Iraq investigated the IgG-avidity ELISA test for detecting recent T. gondii infections among pregnant women and compared immunological methods and PCR as molecular assays in the diagnosis of T. gondii. Serums samples were taken from 130 pregnant wome...

background herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 (hsv-1 and hsv-2) are common infectious agents worldwide. data on prevalence of hsv-1 and hsv-2 infections are limited in asia, especially in iran. our study aimed on determination of seroepidemiology of hsv-1 and hsv-2 infections in asymptomatic healthy students of islamic azad university of kazeroun, fars province, southwest of iran. patients ...

Three commercially available, peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) systems (Chlamydia trachomatis IgG and IgA EIA [CT-EIA; Labsystems OY, Helsinki, Finland], SeroCT IgG and IgA [SeroCT; Savyon Diagnostics Ltd., Ashdod, Israel], and Chlamydia trachomatis IgG and IgA pELISA [CT pELISA; Medac, Wedel, Germany]) were evaluated for the detection of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and ...

The significance of seroconversion as detected by an ELISA screening test for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody with a negative supplemental/confirmatory recombinant immunoblot assay (RIBA) result was investigated. Of 118,220 established West Midlands blood donors with at least one negative HCV antibody screen, 43 had seroconverted in 1994 according to the ELISA but had negative RIBA-3 results. ...