2014
Performance and clinical validation of the RealStar® MERS-CoV Kit for detection of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus RNA
Publication
Publication
Journal of Clinical Virology , Volume 60 - Issue 2 p. 168- 171
Background: A highly pathogenic human coronavirus causing respiratory disease emerged in the Middle East region in 2012. In-house molecular diagnostic methods for this virus termed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) allowed sensitive MERS-CoV RNA detection in patient samples. Fast diagnosis is important to manage human cases and trace possible contacts. Objectives: The aim of this study was to improve the availability of existing nucleic acid amplification-based diagnostic methods for MERS-CoV infections by providing a real-time RT-PCR kit, including an internal control and two target regions recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). And to validate this kit (RealStar® MERS-CoV RT-PCR kit 1.0, Altona Diagnostics GmbH, Hamburg, Germany) using clinical samples of one MERS-CoV case from Munich and respiratory samples of patients with other respiratory diseases. Study design: An internal amplification control was included into the RT-PCR assays targeting the genomic region upstream of the Envelope gene (upE) and within open reading frame (ORF) 1A. Based on these assays, a ready-to-use real-time RT-PCR kit featuring both the upE and ORF1A assays was developed, validated and compared to the established in-house versions. Results: The performance of both RT-PCR assays included in the kit is comparable to the in-house assays. They show high analytical sensitivity (upE: 5.3 copies/reaction; ORF1A: 9.3 copies/reaction), no cross-reactivity with other respiratory pathogens and detected MERS-CoV RNA in patient samples in almost the same manner as the in-house versions. Conclusion: The kit is a valuable tool for assisting in the rapid diagnosis, patient management and epidemiology of suspected MERS-CoV cases.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
, , , , | |
doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2014.03.012, hdl.handle.net/1765/65398 | |
Journal of Clinical Virology | |
Organisation | Department of Virology |
Corman, V., Ölschläger, S., Wendtner, C. M., Drexler, J.-F., Hess, M., & Drosten, C. (2014). Performance and clinical validation of the RealStar® MERS-CoV Kit for detection of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus RNA. Journal of Clinical Virology, 60(2), 168–171. doi:10.1016/j.jcv.2014.03.012 |