title: Rapid diagnosis of sepsis and bacterial meningitis in children with real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction amplification in the bacterial 16S rRNA gene.
abstract: A method for the detection of bacterial pathogens in sepsis and bacterial meningitis with 16S rRNA gene- based real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) is developed. A total of 190 blood specimens and 5 cerebrospinal fluid specimens from neonates with suspected sepsis or bacterial meningitis were evaluated with 16S rRNA gene-based real-time FQ-PCR assay. The positive rate of the real-time FQ-PCR assay was significantly higher (25/195, 12.82%) than that of bacterial culture (15/195, 7.69%; P = .002). When bacterial culture was used as a control, the sensitivity of the real-time FQ-PCR was 100%, the specificity was 94.4%, and Youden's index was 0.944. This study suggests that 16S rRNA gene-based real-time FQ-PCR assay is an important and accurate method in the detection of bacterial pathogens of sepsis and bacterial meningitis and should have a promising usage in the diagnosis of sepsis and bacterial meningitis.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Department, Children's Hospital, Medical School, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li-Hua
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qun-Jun
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Mei-Ting
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Yi-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shi-Qiang
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Shang
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D005784:Gene Amplification; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S