title: Rapid diagnosis of bacterial meningitis by a seminested PCR strategy.
abstract: A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based diagnostic assay has been developed for the simultaneous detection in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Neisseria meningitidis, Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, Listeria monocytogenes and bacteria in general. In the present communication we describe the design of primers for S. pneumoniae, S. agalactiae, and L. monocytogenes, and a general PCR protocol for the assay. The diagnostic outcome is presented for a small collection of CSF specimens including 2 samples from patients with culture-negative purulent meningitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Orebro Medical Center Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Olcén
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Lantz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bäckman
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rådström
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000235:genetics; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S