Prevalence and genetic characteristics of Saffold cardiovirus in China from 2009 to 2012

Zhang, Xiao-Ai; Lu, Qing-Bin; Wo, Ying; Zhao, Jin; Huang, Dou-Dou; Guo, Chen-Tao; Xu, Hong-Mei; Liu, En-Mei; Liu, Wei; Cao, Wu-Chun

Detection of SAFV in sera and CSFs. Additional 171 CSFs were collected from patients with HFMD-associated encephalitis, and six (3.5%) were found to be SAFV-positive using real-time RT-PCR, and five were further confirmed by nested RT-PCR targeting the 59-UTR. Two of six SAFV-positive CSFs were successfully sequenced for VP1, and only SAFV-3 was identified. Among 760 serum samples collected from HFMD patients (355 from mild HFMD patients and 328 from severe HFMD patients), eight HFMD patients (1.1%) were detected positive for SAFV, including seven patients with encephalitis and one patient with myocarditis. Among 328 sera from severe HFMD patients, 322 were collected from patients with HFMD-associated encephalitis, and seven (2.2%) were found to be SAFV-positive using real-time RT-PCR, and five were further confirmed by nested RT-PCR targeting the 59-UTR. Two out of eight SAFV-positive sera were successfully identified to be SAFV-2 and all from patients with HFMD-associated encephalitis. From three of the six SAFV-positive CSFs and four of eight SAFVpositive sera, no HEV was detected.