Molecular detection of human parechovirus in under-Five-Year-Old Children with gastroenteritis

BACKGROUND: Currently, RT-PCR is used widely and considered to be a convenient, useful, and powerful method for molecular diagnosis, to detect pathogens from clinical specimens. OBJECTIVES: In this work we describe the development of an in-house Real-time Taqman PCR assay for quantification of HPeV in stool specimens. STUDY DESIGNS: A total of 137 fecal specimens previously screened for rotavirus and adenovirus were tested for HPeV virus. RESULTS: A total of 11 out of 137 (8%) episodes of acute gastroenteritis were associated with HPeV genomic detection with median viral load 14678 ± 28927 genomes/mg fecal specimens. There was no significant difference in the detection rate between male and female (54.5% (6/11) vs. 45.5% (5/11). Among the 11 HPeV-positive cases, 2 were also positive for other viral pathogens, including rotavirus (n = 2). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the development of a laboratory designed Real Time PCR TaqMan assay for quantitative detection of HPeV and the optimization and standardization of this assay using stool of children with acute gastroenteritis are described.