Whole Blood PCR Testing More Effective For West Nile Virus Detection Than Plasma Testing, Study Finds

Healio (5/14, Stulpin) says, “PCR-based West Nile virus testing using whole blood was effective and favored compared with plasma testing as an initial test for infection, researchers reported” in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. Erin H. Graf, PhD, co-director of the Mayo Clinic microbiology laboratory, said, “Antibody testing may be useful as a supplemental test, especially in later stages of infection.”