How, in this era of molecular diagnostic tests, can we bestdetermine whether there is a causal relationship between thepresence of a genetic signature of an infectious agent and disease?In recent years, molecular techniques have been applied successfullyin the identification of infectious agents such as Borna virus,Kaposi's sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (human herpesvirus8), West Nile virus, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) coronavirus.1 Currently, the majority of surveillanceand discovery efforts use methods based on sequences of knownagents — namely, competitive polymerase chain reaction(PCR) and microarrays. Such efforts fail, however, when theagents in . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Whitley is a professor of pediatrics, microbiology, medicine, and neurosurgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham.
This article (10.1056/NEJMp0708085) was published at www.nejm.org on February 6, 2008.
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