title: [Mission oriented diagnostic real-time PCR].
abstract: In out of area military missions soldiers are potentially exposed to bacteria that are endemic in tropical areas and can be used as biological agents. It can be difficult to culture these bacteria due to sample contamination, low number of bacteria or pretreatment with antibiotics. Commercial biochemical identification systems are not optimized for these agents which can result in misidentification. Immunological assays are often not commercially available or not specific. Real-time PCR assays are very specific and sensitive and can shorten the time required to establish a diagnosis markedly. Therefore, real-time PCRs for the identification of Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., Burkholderia mallei und Burkholderia pseudomallei, Francisella tularensis und Yersinia pestis have been developed. PCR results can be false negative due to inadequate clinical samples, low number of bacteria in samples, DNA degradation, inhibitory substances and inappropriate DNA preparation. Hence, it is crucial to cultivate the organisms as a prerequisite for adequate antibiotic therapy and typing of the agent. In a bioterrorist scenario samples have to be treated according to rules applied in forensic medicine and documentation has to be flawless.
authors.affiliation: Militärspital Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Osterreich. herbert.tomaso@web.de
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomaso
authors.forename: Holger C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Dahouk
authors.forename: Wolf D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Splettstoesser
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neubauer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeffer
authors.forename: Eberhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Straube
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D001694:Biological Warfare; D054045:Biological Warfare Agents; D003199:Computer Systems; D006801:Humans; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D054045:Biological Warfare Agents