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Virology Down Under

Facts, data, info, expert opinion and a reasonable, occasionally grumpy, voice on viruses: what they are, how they tick and the illnesses they may cause.

Tag: PCR

What does a positive PCR result mean…or not mean?

Posted onFebruary 19, 2019August 4, 20207 Comments

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has remained a hugely important laboratory tool for decades. Subtle changes to the enzymes and drastic changes to the detection of a result have occurred Read More …

CategoriesPCRTagsPCR

How many common cold viruses in one place, in one season?

Posted onSeptember 2, 2018September 22, 20203 Comments

I was recently asked how many common cold viruses are among us at a given time? The short answer is – dozens!  In the past, I’ve written a few reviews (for Read More …

CategoriesRhinovirusTagscommon cold, epidemiology, genotype, molecular epidemiology, PCR, rhinovirus

PCR primers…a primer!

Posted onMay 5, 2015September 14, 2020

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR, described here) works mainly because of two components – a heat-stable DNA polymerase enzyme (adds new nucleotides to a chain of nucleotides) and a pair Read More …

CategoriesLaboratory methods, PCRTagsmismatch, PCR, polymerase chain reaction, primers, RT-PCR

Recent Posts

  • An early & big flu rise in Australia June 7, 2022
  • BA.2.12.1 is on the rise in New York… May 2, 2022
  • Unexplained hepatitis: severe liver inflammation among young children April 25, 2022
  • Lockdowns had a role: they saved lives April 18, 2022
  • Super-cold or a silly headline? April 15, 2022
  • Arrrrr on the rise (Rhinovirus, RSV and RATs) March 19, 2022
  • Thank goodness we did all the work January 29, 2022
  • Living next door to Alice January 3, 2022
  • Ireland and the vaccinated hospitalised-it ain’t what it looks like November 6, 2021
  • WHO to new PCR users: read the damned manual! January 23, 2021
  • Putting PCR into real-time January 2, 2021
  • The mechanics of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…a primer December 28, 2020
  • The Swiss cheese infographic that went viral December 26, 2020
  • Happy Festive Season to all who read this…. December 24, 2020
  • The “false-positive PCR” problem is not a problem November 22, 2020

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Regular reads…

  • FluTrackers-everything infectious, before it happens
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  • Crawford Kilian’s infectious disease blog
  • Pathogen perspectives: Ebola and more
  • ProMED mail
  • WHO Disease Outbreak News
  • HealthMap
  • STAT News
  • CIDRAP-timely infectious disease reporting
  • Maia Majumder’s blog
  • Kai Kupferschmidt
  • Martin Enserink
  • EpiRamblings

 

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