Rapid Detection and Identification of Dengue Viruses by Reverse Transcriptase/Polymerase Chain Reaction

Introduction of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique as a rapid and sensitive method for amplification of DNA has resulted in development of new specific nucleic acid-based techniques for clinical diagnosis of infections (1 ). Improvements in nucleic acid amplification by PCR, and development of sensitive nonisotopic technologies for detection of amplified viral genes have facilitated the introduction of molecular methods into the diagnostic laboratory. The availability of simple and well-characterized protocols, cominercial reagents of high quality, improved equipment for performing PCR reactions, and nonisotopic methods for detection of amplicons has stimulated development of PCR-based tests for detection of both DNA and RNA viral nucleic acids in clinical samples (1 ).