Feasibility of real-time polymerase chain reaction in whole blood to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae in patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Cordelia Kee; Silvano Palladino; Ian Kay; Todd M Pryce; Ronan Murray; Jordi Rello; Miquel Gallego; Manel Lujan; Carmen Muñoz-Almagro; Grant W Waterer

doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2007.12.011

Feasibility of real-time polymerase chain reaction in whole blood to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae in patients with community-acquired pneumonia

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2008 May;61(1):72-5. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2007.12.011. Epub 2008 Jan 24.

Authors

Cordelia Kee¹, Silvano Palladino, Ian Kay, Todd M Pryce, Ronan Murray, Jordi Rello, Miquel Gallego, Manel Lujan, Carmen Muñoz-Almagro, Grant W Waterer

Affiliation

¹ School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Western Australia. ckee@meddent.uwa.edu.au

PMID: 18221851
DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2007.12.011

Abstract

We assessed a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the lytA and ply gene of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Both assays were applied to whole blood samples from 28 adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia. Our findings suggest the lytA PCR is more sensitive, and the quantitative aspect of the assay shows promise as an aid to clinical judgment.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Blood / microbiology*
Community-Acquired Infections / microbiology*
Humans
Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / diagnosis*
Pneumonia, Pneumococcal / microbiology
Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Streptococcus pneumoniae / genetics
Streptococcus pneumoniae / isolation & purification*
Streptolysins / genetics

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
Streptolysins
plY protein, Streptococcus pneumoniae