Comparison of Real-time PCR with Virus Isolation in Detecting Influenza Virus Type A (H1N1) in East Azerbaijan

Influenza type A (H1N1) causes epidemic disease resulting in thousands of deaths throughout the world. In this study، we aimed at comparing the virus isolation method and Real-time PCR to detect the Influenza A virus in clinical specimens. In this prospective study between March 2008 and March 2009، 100 throat swabs from patients with suspected influenza virus infection were collected in viral transport medium and were tested by using MDCK cells and Real-time PCR in virology lab of faculty of medicine، Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The Real-time PCR method detected 19 cases of influenza A (H1N1) compared to 5 cases by virus isolation methods. The Real time PCR can detect very small amount of virus genome. This technique is a more sensitive and more specific method compared to the virus isolation.