Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Microbiological Diagnosis of Parapneumonic Effusions in Canadian Children

Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion/empyema is not uncommon in children and can cause serious illness; there -fore, the timely optimization of antimicrobial therapy is essential in this situation. The aim of this study was to determine whether using real-time polymerase chain reaction of pleural fluids to identify the causative organism improves the process of microbiological diagnosis in the context of community-acquired pneumonia with parapneumonic effusion/empyema. This technique was compared with traditional culture methods for microbiological diagnosis.

Detection and prediction of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes directly from nasopharyngeal swabs using PCR

“…As previously demonstrated for this target, the lytA RT-PCR was specific and detected only S. pneumoniae isolates (Table S4) (Carvalho et al, 2010;Resti et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2012;Cvitkovic Spik et al, 2013;Grijalva et al, 2014;Pernica et al, 2014;Strålin et al, 2014). As for cpsA RT-PCR, the results showed it was no less specific than lytA.…”

“…Compared with culture, lytA-based PCR has previously been shown to be highly sensitive for the detection of S. pneumoniae (Carvalho et al, 2010;Resti et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2012;Cvitkovic Spik et al, 2013;Grijalva et al, 2014;Pernica et al, 2014;Strålin et al, 2014). In addition, the lytA gene target was shown to be specific for the detection of S. pneumoniae Abdeldaim et al, 2010;Greve & Møller, 2012;Strålin et al, 2014).…”

“…CAP and IPD surveillance often rely on a number of laboratory tests, including bacterial culture and antigen detection (Facklam & Washington, 1991;Spellerberg & Brandt, 2007;Harris et al, 2014). Increasingly, molecular methods such as PCR are being used for the detection of S. pneumoniae as they are highly sensitive compared with culture, can be applied to various specimen types and are not predicated on the growth of viable bacteria (Carvalho et al, 2010;Resti et al, 2010;Kim et al, 2012;Cvitkovic Spik et al, 2013;Grijalva et al, 2014;Pernica et al, 2014;Strålin et al, 2014). To assess S. pneumoniae serotype distribution, serotyping methods using Quellung reactions or latex agglutination are often used, but these require viable pneumococci and large panels of antisera (Austrian, 1976;Lovgren et al, 1998;Siira et al, 2012;Ortika et al, 2013).…”

Assessing the diagnostic accuracy of PCR-based detection ofStreptococcus pneumoniaefrom nasopharyngeal swabs collected for viral studies in Canadian adults hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia: a Serious Outcomes Surveillance (SOS) Network of the Canadian Immunization Research (CIRN) study

“…[4][5][6][7][8] While traditional methods of serotyping (Quellung reaction) require live organism, PCR-based detection and serotyping of S. pneumoniae can be performed on a variety of clinical specimens without culture. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Our laboratory previously demonstrated the feasibility of these PCR methods on nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs routinely collected for respiratory virus studies. 9 The serotype distribution mirrored trends obtained with traditional Quellung serotyping, but the PCR methods were not thoroughly validated with specimens collected from patients with pneumococcal disease.…”

Recent advances in paediatric respiratory medicine

“…As S. pneumoniae is the most common pathogen to cause pneumonia and empyema in children,31 32 the impact of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) on the epidemiology of these conditions is of particular importance. The 7-valent vaccine, PCV7 (containing protein from serotypes 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F), was introduced into the UK immunisation schedule in September 2006, and was subsequently replaced by the 13-valent PCV13 (with the additional serotypes 1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F and 19A) in April 2010.…”