Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
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Rapid detection and identification of viruses are important for early diagnosis and effective surveillance of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). We described a novel assay using multilocus PCR and reverse transcription-PCR coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (RT-PCR/ESI-MS) to simultaneously detect and identify human enterovirus A-D, adenovirus A-F, human herpesvirus 1-8, parvovirus B19 and polyomavirus. ⋯ With the capability of high throughput and detection and typing of multiple clinically relevant viruses simultaneously, RT-PCR/ESI-MS can be a rapid and robust laboratory tool for identifying viral pathogens.