Molecular hybridization with DNA-probes as a laboratory diagnostic test for influenza viruses.

The possibilities of using DNA-copies of different influenza A virus genes cloned with recombinant bacterial plasmids for the detection of virus-specific RNA by molecular dot-hybridization were analyzed. High specificity of RNA identification has been demonstrated and it has been shown expedient to use DNA-probes with high-conservative virus genes (polymerase, nucleoprotein, or matrix) for the detection of influenza A virus subtypes (H1N1, H2N2, H3N2) and probes with corresponding hemagglutinin genes for the differentiation of the subtypes H3N2 and H1N1. The results of nasopharyngeal specimens testing proved the effectiveness of molecular dot-hybridization in epidemiological studies of influenza outbreaks, especially of mixed etiology.