Comparison of the genexpert enterovirus assay (GXEA) with real-time one step RT-PCR for the detection of enteroviral RNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with meningitis

Background: Enteroviruses (EVs) are the leading cause of aseptic meningitis worldwide. Detection of enteroviral RNA in clinical specimens has been demonstrated to improve the management of patient care, especially that of neonates and young children. Findings: To establish a sensitive and reliable assay for routine laboratory diagnosis, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of the GeneXpert Enterovirus Assay (GXEA) with that of the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based assay referred to as real-time one step RT-PCR (RTo-PCR). The sensitivity/specificity produced by GXEA and RTo-PCR were 100%/100% and 65%/100%, respectively. Conclusions: Both methods evaluated in this article can be used for detection of enterovirus in clinical specimens and these nucleic acid amplification methods are useful assays for the diagnosis of enteroviral infection.