A multi-centre pilot proficiency programme to assess the quality of molecular detection of respiratory viruses

Abstract

The first proficiency panel showed that in general all participants performed well. Although, it also highlights areas for improvement for all participants in order to generate robust results for use in clinical diagnostics.

Development of working reference materials for clinical virology

“…In addition, formal external quality assessment schemes and proficiency panels play a complementary role in monitoring the specificity and sensitivity of assays across laboratories. [9][10][11] The National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC) was established in the UK to safeguard and enhance public health through the standardisation and control of biological products used in medicine. The institute prepares and distributes standards and reference materials used to determine the purity and potency of biological medicinal products in its capacity as a WHO Laboratory for International Standards.…”

Detection and characterisation of human metapneumovirus from children with acute respiratory symptoms in north-west England, UK

“…Discovery of hMPV was delayed by difficulties in establishing growth in routine viral culture cells (van den Hoogen et al, 2001). The development of hMPV specific monoclonal antibodies allows detection in a direct specimen smear or after tissue culture but antigen detection methods are less sensitive than molecular methods (Ebihara et al, 2005;Ingram et al, 2006;Landry et al, 2005;Percivalle et al, 2005).…”

“…The development of hMPV specific monoclonal antibodies allows detection in a direct specimen smear or after tissue culture but antigen detection methods are less sensitive than molecular methods (Ebihara et al, 2005;Ingram et al, 2006;Landry et al, 2005;Percivalle et al, 2005). Several groups have described reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays to detect hMPV, mostly targeting the fusion, nucleoprotein, or polymerase genes though the matrix and 5 non-coding region have also been targeted (Bouscambert-Duchamp et al, 2005;Deffrasnes et al, 2005;Greensill et al, 2003;Gunson et al, 2005;Kuypers et al, 2005;Mackay et al, 2003;Maertzdorf et al, 2004;Templeton et al, 2006;van den Hoogen et al, 2003). The increasing number of real-time PCR (RT-PCR) methods reflects the clinical demand for the introduction of routine testing for hMPV in diagnostic laboratories.…”

Molecular detection and typing of influenza viruses: Are we ready for an influenza pandemic?

“…One of the best ways of assessing this ability is through participation in external quality assessment (EQA) programmes (Meijer et al, 2005;Templeton et al, 2006;Valette and Aymard, 2002). An EQA study was organ- ised by Quality Control for Molecular Diagnostics (QCMD) (http://www.qcmd.org) in collaboration with the European Influenza Surveillance Scheme (EISS) and the European Society for Clinical Virology (ESCV).…”