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. 2020 May 18;58(8):711–715. doi: 10.1007/s12275-020-0109-1

Development of a real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification method for the detection of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus

Jae Woong Lee 1, Yu-Jung Won 1, Lae Hyung Kang 1, Sung-Geun Lee 2, Seung-Won Park 3, Soon-Young Paik 1,✉
PMCID: PMC7232587  PMID: 32424580

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is being reported annually in South Korea since its first detection there in 2010. The causal agent is a negative-strand RNA virus 80–100 nm in diameter. It causes fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, gastrointestinal symptoms, and neural symptoms. The mortality rate of SFTS was 32.6% among 172 cases reported from 2012 to 2015 in South Korea. Thus, is necessary to develop an effective diagnostic method that selectively identifies the isolates circulating in South Korea. The real-time reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay is a simple, rapid, and sensitive approach for molecular diagnosis. Here, we designed novel primers for this assay and found that the technique had very high specificity, sensitivity, and efficiency. This real-time RT-LAMP approach using the novel primers developed herein can be applied for early diagnosis of SFTSV strains in South Korea to reduce the mortality rate of SFTS.

Keywords: severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (STFS), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), molecular diagnostics, virus detection

Acknowledgments

The present study was supported by a grant from the Next-Generation BioGreen21 Program (grant no. PJ011835), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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