title: Actinobaculum schaalii, a common uropathogen in elderly patients, Denmark.
abstract: Actinobaculum schaalii can cause urinary tract infections and septicemia but is difficult to identify by cultivation. To obtain a fast diagnosis and identify A. schaalii, we developed a TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR. Routine urine samples were obtained from 177 hospitalized patients and 75 outpatients in Viborg County, Denmark, in 2008-2009. The PCR detected A. schaalii in 22% of samples from patients >60 years of age. This assay showed that A. schaalii is more common than implied by routine cultivation. In 90% of PCR-positive urine samples, other common uropathogens were identified. This finding suggests that A. schaalii is a common, undetected, bacterial pathogen. Our results suggest that A. schaalii may be a more common pathogen than previously thought, especially in patients with unexplained chronic urinary tract infections, who are often treated with trimethoprim or ciprofloxacin, to which A. schaalii is resistant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Viborg Hospital, Heibergs Allé 4, DK-8800 Viborg, Denmark. stb@mb.au.dk
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bank
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Karen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Søby
authors.forename: Jørgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prag
mesh_terms: D000191:Actinomycetaceae / Q000235:genetics; D000193:Actinomycetales Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014556:Urine / Q000382:microbiology