The Hands-on Training Workshop on the Laboratory Diagnosis of Measles and Rubella focusing on new real time PCR techniques in the Western Pacific Region
29 October-03 November 2012, Hong Kong, China - The 5th Regional Hands-on Training Workshop on the Laboratory Diagnosis of Measles and Rubella was organized at the Public Health Laboratory Center (PHLC) in Hong Kong China from 29 Oct to 3 Nov 2012 to introduce the new real time PCR techniques for measles and rubella detection and to further strengthen the genotyping capacity for both measles and rubella in the region. Thirteen country participants from 12 laboratories in 9 countries (Australia, China including Yunnan and Jilin provincial CDC labs, New Zealand, Malaysia, Mongolia, Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam) and temporary advisers from US CDC. NIID Japan, PHLC Hong Kong and China CDC participated in the training. The procedures to deposit measles and rubella genotypes and sequence data to MeaNS (measles nucleotide sequence) and the WHO genotype database were discussed and practised. This training has provided an opportunity to introduce the standardized real time PCR techniques for measles and rubella detection and to further strengthen the genotyping capacity for both measles and rubella in the region.
