A comparative analysis of routine techniques: Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and five cell lines for detection of enteroviruses in stool specimens

摘要

Background and objectivesEach year, Enteroviruses infect millions of people and cause different diseases. The agents are usually detected using cell culture. RD (Rhabdomyosarcoma) and L20B (L cells) are among the recommended cells by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for this purpose. Even though cell culture is the most common method used in diagnosing Enteroviruses in stool specimens, this particular method poses some problems, which include false positive or negative results, lack of a unique cell line for diagnosing all Enterovirus types in addition to being time consuming. For these reasons, an attempt was made to find better techniques of Enterovirus detection. RT-PCR (Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction) is a technique used in place of the cell culture method. In this study, the cell culture method was compared with RT-PCR for detection of Enteroviruses in stool specimens.