A neonate with respiratory syncytial virus infection diagnosed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction

We experienced a neonatal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection diagnoed by reverse trancriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The patient was a sixteen-day boy, and hospitalized to NICU with complaints of apneic spell and cough. Standard enzyme immunoassay (EIA) method (Abbott Test Pack RSV, Dainabot Co.) using nasopharyngeal secretion was performed, and the result was negative for the first three days of admission. On the other hand, RT-PCR using the primer pairs which Paton et al and the authors had pointed out was positive for the first five hospital days. The PCR products were confirmed by nested double RT-PCR. RSV isolation was also positive. We concluded that RT-PCR for RSV was useful and available of diagnosing RSV infection when the suspected case was negative by ETA.