Diagnosis of human parvovirus infection by dot-blot hybridization using cloned viral DNA.

The human parvovirus can be detected in serum by the immunological techniques of immune electron microscopy (IEM), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), and radioimmunoassay (RIA). A portion of the genome of this virus has been cloned in pAT153 and used as a 32P-labelled probe in dot-blot hybridization assays to detect parvovirus DNA in serum specimens. This test proved a highly sensitive means of detecting virus in microlitre volumes of serum, giving positive results for samples containing 0.5 pg viral DNA, equivalent to 10(4) virus particles. Unlike CIE and RIA the test is not affected by the presence of parvovirus-specific antibody in serum specimens, and has permitted virus to be detected in specimens obtained up to 11 days after the onset of clinical symptoms of aplastic crisis.