Browsing by Author "Tsao, Kuo-Chien"

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Performance of rapid-test kits for the detection of the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 virus
(2011-05-01)
Tsao, Kuo-Chien
;
Kuo, Yung-Bin
;
Huang, Chung-Guei
;
Chau, Shao-Wen
;
Chan, Err-Cheng
The early detection of pandemic influenza strains is a key factor for clinicians in treatment decisions and infection control practices. The aims of this study were to determine the analytical sensitivity and clinical performance of the commercially available influenza rapid tests in Taiwan. Four rapid tests for influenza virus (BinaxNow test, QuickVue test, TRU test, and Formosa Rapid test) were evaluated for their detection limit against four influenza viruses (the 2009 pandemic influenza A virus H1N1, seasonal influenza virus H1N1, H3N2, and influenza B virus) circulating in Taiwan. The viral load of these isolates were quantified by rtRT-PCR and then diluted 2-fold serially for the comparison. The lowest detectable viral load of the pandemic influenza A virus H1N1 by the Formosa Rapid test, QuickVue test, TRU test, and Binax Now test was 5.3 x 10(4), 1.0 x 10(5), 1.0 x 10(5), and 4.2 x 10(5) copies/mu l, respectively. Of these four tests, the two most sensitive tests (the QuickVue test and the Formosa Rapid test) were chosen to evaluate 62 nasopharyngeal specimens from patients who were suspected of infection with pandemic influenza A virus H1N1. The positive rate for the Formosa Rapid test and the QuickVue test were 53.2% (33/62) and 45.2% (28/62) (McNemar's test, P = 0.125), respectively. In conclusion, the Formosa Rapid test was the most sensitive test in the present study for the detection of influenza antigens and its clinical performance was similar to that of the QuickVue test (Kappa = 0.776). This suggests that the Formosa Rapid test could be used to aid clinical decision making in primary health care settings during outbreaks of influenza. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Genotypes in Northern Taiwanese Women
(2010-10-01)
Tsao, Kuo-Chien
;
Huang, Chung-Guei
;
Kuo, Yung-Bin
;
Chang, Ting-Chang
;
Sun, Chien-Feng
The prevalence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in the general population of northern Taiwan is described. A total of 343 consecutive cervical swabs from women visiting the medical center for routine gynecologic care were included. Cervical cell cytology was examined by the Papanicolaou (Pap) test, and a PCR-based hybridization gene chip analysis was used to identify HPV genotypes. The HPV prevalence in the overall population was 32.4%. When divided into two groups according to cytology, 20.9% of women with normal cytology were HPV positive while 75.3% of women with abnormal cytology were HPV positive. Among positive samples, 68.5% were single type infections while 31.5% harbored multiple HPV types. A total of 32 types of HPV were identified; the leading five were HPV16 (5.8%), HPV58 (5.3%), HPV53 (4.1%), HPV52 (3.8%), and HPV18 (2.3%). Our results constitute baseline data and may provide important implications for future prophylactic programs. The relatively high prevalence of HPV 58, 53, and 52 among northern Taiwanese women has important implications for vaccine development. J. Med. Virol. 82:1739-1745, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.