Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Identification of a Novel Coronavirus in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Identification of a Novel Coronavirus in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome BackgroundAbstractThe severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently been identified as a new clinical entity. SARS is thought to be caused by an unknown infectious agent.MethodsClinical specimens from patients with SARS were searched for unknown viruses with the use of cell cultures and molecular techniques.ResultsA novel coronavirus was identified in patients with SARS. The virus was isolated in cell culture, and a sequence 300 nucleotides in length was obtained by a polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)–based random-amplification procedure. Genetic characterization indicated that the virus is only distantly related to known coronaviruses (identical in 50 to 60 percent of the nucleotide sequence). On the basis of the obtained sequence, conventional and real-time PCR assays for specific and sensitive detection of the novel virus were established. Virus was detected in a variety of clinical specimens from patients with SARS but not in controls. High concentrations of viral RNA of up to 100 million molecules per milliliter were found in sputum. Viral RNA was also detected at extremely low concentrations in plasma during the acute phase and in feces during the late convalescent phase. Infected patients showed seroconversion on the Vero cells in which the virus was isolated.ConclusionsThe novel coronavirus might have a role in causing SARS. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The New England Journal of Medicine The New England Journal of Medicine

Identification of a Novel Coronavirus in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Download PDF
10 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/the-new-england-journal-of-medicine/identification-of-a-novel-coronavirus-in-patients-with-severe-acute-9DDFiobdz3

References (13)

Publisher
The New England Journal of Medicine
Copyright
Copyright © 2003 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0028-4793
eISSN
1533-4406
DOI
10.1056/NEJMoa030747
pmid
12690091
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BackgroundAbstractThe severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently been identified as a new clinical entity. SARS is thought to be caused by an unknown infectious agent.MethodsClinical specimens from patients with SARS were searched for unknown viruses with the use of cell cultures and molecular techniques.ResultsA novel coronavirus was identified in patients with SARS. The virus was isolated in cell culture, and a sequence 300 nucleotides in length was obtained by a polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR)–based random-amplification procedure. Genetic characterization indicated that the virus is only distantly related to known coronaviruses (identical in 50 to 60 percent of the nucleotide sequence). On the basis of the obtained sequence, conventional and real-time PCR assays for specific and sensitive detection of the novel virus were established. Virus was detected in a variety of clinical specimens from patients with SARS but not in controls. High concentrations of viral RNA of up to 100 million molecules per milliliter were found in sputum. Viral RNA was also detected at extremely low concentrations in plasma during the acute phase and in feces during the late convalescent phase. Infected patients showed seroconversion on the Vero cells in which the virus was isolated.ConclusionsThe novel coronavirus might have a role in causing SARS.

Journal

The New England Journal of Medicine – The New England Journal of Medicine

Published: May 15, 2003

There are no references for this article.