Can a simple PCR strategy effectively detect a wide range of organisms causing aseptic meningitis and encephalitis in a routine diagnostic laboratory?
A targeted PCR strategy using four primer sets can efficiently and economically detect the vast majority of viral causes of aseptic meningitis and encephalitis in routine clinical practice.
In this study we have devised a simple and robust PCR strategy to detect a wide range of viruses, bacteria, and parasites, all of which are capable of causing aseptic meningitis and encephalitis. The techniques developed have been used in a routine diagnostic virology laboratory to test prospectively 2,233 cerebrospinal fluid specimens. A virus was detected in 147 specimens of cerebrospinal fluid from 143 patients. Four sets of primers were sufficient to detect the virus in 135 (94%) of the PCR-positive patients. We conclude that with appropriate primers, PCR can be systematically and economically applied to test for a range of organisms in a routine diagnostic laboratory. In our opinion, PCR will soon become the "gold standard" test for viral infections of the central nervous system.
Read et al. (Sat,) studied this question.