RAPID DETECTION OF ROTAVIRUS IN FECES USING A DIPSTICK SYSTEM WITH MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES AND COLLOIDAL GOLD AS MARKER

Rotavirus (RV) is known to be the most common cause of severe diarrhoe a in infants and young children, each year leading to an estimated 800 000-900 000 deaths. RV also infects bovines and other species, with h igh morbidity and mortality. A rapid and simple 'naked-eye' dipstick s ystem was developed to detect human RV in faeces, using nitrocellulose as solid phase, two monoclonal antibodies, and colloidal gold as mark er. The system detects 10(4) viral particles (1-2 ng)/g of faeces. For human RV the specificity and sensitivity were 100% when compared with a commercial latex system, and 99% and 98%, respectively, when correl ated with traditional RNA-PAGE, and 100% and 98% compared to an ELISA system.