Rapid detection and typing of dengue viruses by multi-polymerase chain reaction

Objective To establish a rapid multi-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detection and typing of dengue viruses. Methods After reverse transcription,a pair of outer universal primers that were designed to anneal to any of the four dengue virus types were used to amplify the viral RNA. The double-strand cDNA products of the RT-PCR were typed by nest-PCR with 4 pairs of serotype-specific primers in the same reaction tube. Results Four specific fragments,of 482,119,290 and 392 bp respectively,were successfully amplified from the 4 dengue virus serotypes by multi-PCR. Conclusions The multi-PCR method is rapid,sensitive and specific for detecting and typing dengue viruses and useful in clinical application.