3/3/96

I realise that this may not be the best place to ask, and I apologise and would appreciate being pointed to other contacts, but meanwhile would like any info/suggestions regarding facilities for determining CMV strains. We have seen 4 cases of CMV retinitis (3 kids, 1 adult) recently in our renal transplant patients. We have had many tpts from CMV+ donors to CMV+ recipients in the past and have not had such problems. Furthermore, the extent of retinitis appears out of proportion to the systemic involvement in these patients. We wonder if all 4 patients have some CMV strain that preferentially attacks the retina. We do not have facilities for determining CMV strain in Singapore and would appreciate any help/advice/information. We do have facilities for PCR but are not aware of strain-specific primers that would help us. Thank you in advance

Note from the editor: this req. is not strictly pertinent to HMGN: however given the fact that no good ID list was found by this person, and that a number of HMGN subscribers are involved in ophtalmologic research, I decided to post this message; I apologize to anybody that could be displeased.