Molecular detection and characterization of yellow fever virus in blood and liver specimens of a non-vaccinated fatal human case
✍ Scribed by Deubel, Vincent; Huerre, Michel; Cathomas, Gieri; Drouet, Marie-Thérèse; Wuscher, Nicole; Le Guenno, Bernard; Widmer, Andreas F.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 276 KB
- Volume
- 53
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0146-6615
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A yellow fever virus of a South American genotype was identified in the liver and blood samples of a non-vaccinated European patient after his return from Brazil. ELISA tests were negative for IgG and positive for IgM against yellow fever. Yellow fever proteins in the formalinfixed and paraffin-embedded liver biopsy were detected by immunohistochemical procedures. Viral RNA extracted from the liver tissue was also detected using an RT-semi-nested PCR procedure and molecular hybridization. Alignment of the sequence obtained from a gene fragment amplified by RT-semi-nested PCR directly from a blood sample with those of African and South American yellow fever virus strains identified a Brazilian topotype as being responsible for the disease. RT-semi-nested PCR may be used advantageously for clinical specimens for rapid and specific diagnosis, and with archival biopsy material for retrospective studies.