Isolation and characterization of vaccine-derived polioviruses, relevance for the global polio eradication initiative

Abstract

Stool specimens were collected from children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and their contacts, and viral isolation was performed according to standard procedures. If the specimens tested positive for poliovirus, then intratypic differentiation (ITD) methods were performed on the viral isolates to determine whether the poliovirus isolates were wild or of vaccine origin, these include a poliovirus diagnostic ITD real-time PCR method and a vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) screening real-time PCR method. Viral RNA was extracted from the poliovirus isolates by using the QIAamp Mini Viral RNA Extraction Kit (Qiagen) and was used for RT-PCR amplification by the standard method. The entire VP1 region of the poliovirus isolates was amplified by RT-PCR with primers that flanked the VP1 -coding region. After purification of the PCR products by the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen), the amplicons were bidirectionally sequenced with the ABI PRISM 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems). A neurovirulence test of polioviruses isolates was carried out using PVR-Tg21 mice that expressed the human poliovirus receptor (CD155). And the temperature sensitivities of polioviruses isolates were assayed on monolayer RD cells in 24-well plates as described.