VIASURE Human Metapneumovirus Real Time PCR Detection Kit is designed for specific identification of human Metapneumovirus in respiratory samples from patients with signs and symptoms of respiratory infection.

This test is intended for use as an aid in the diagnosis of human Metapneumovirus in combination with clinical and epidemiological risk factors.

RNA is extracted from specimens, amplified using RT-PCR and detected using fluorescent reporter dye probes specific for human Metapneumovirus.

Human Metapneumoviruses (hMPV) belong to the Paramyxoviridae family and have been identified as one of the most frequent causes of upper and lower respiratory tract infection. Human Metapneumoviruses are subdivided into two major genetic lineages, A and B, based upon the sequence variability of the attachment and fusion surface glycoproteins.

The infection of human Metapneumovirus can cause severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children, and its clinical manifestations are indistinguishable from those caused by human respiratory syncytial virus. Initial infection usually occurs during early childhood, but reinfections are common throughout life. The frequent symptoms are fever, cough, hypoxia, upper and lower respiratory tract infections and wheezing.

The virus has been isolated on all continents and has a seasonal distribution. Outbreaks occur mainly in the spring and winter months. Human Metapneumoviruses are transmitted by infectious airborne droplets and by contact between infected people, as the natural reservoir of these viruses is human.

Detection of hMPV is non-optimal by conventional cell culture due to its slow growth, which was one of the reasons for the late discovery of the virus. Therefore, molecular methods like RT-PCR and/or real-time RT-PCR, are the preferred and more widely used diagnostic modality of this enveloped negative sense single stranded RNA virus.