Implantação e otimização da PCR em tempo real para o diagnóstico da influenza A (H1N1) pandêmica no Instituto Adolfo Lutz e perspectivas para 2010 Implementation and optimization of real time PCR for diagnosis of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) at Instituto Adolfo Lutz and perspectives for 2010

The authors present their experience with the molecular diagnosis of Influenza A (H1N1) with 37.240 clinical samples obtained from individuals suspected of flu, sent to Instituto Adolfo Lutz for analysis. They show the used algorithms, compare their efficiency in terms of sensitivity, specificity and cost, and suggest a new algorithm to be employed in case of an outbreak of Influenza A (H1N1) in 2010. Key words. influenza A (H1N1), molecular diagnosis, real time PCR (rRT-PCR), algorithms of molecular assays.