title: Evaluation of the commercial rapid Mycoplasma pneumoniae medium method using the medium PCR and serum antibody test.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is a major cause of respiratory tract infection. There is no specific and simple diagnosis test for the clinic treatment. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a recently developed commercial rapid M. pneumoniae medium testing method.
  
  
  METHODS
  There were 132 patients with acute respiratory tract infection enrolled in this study. All of the patients' throat swabs were taken in the morning after admission and determined using the rapid identification culture test for M. pneumoniae. In addition the M. pneumoniae polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and routine bacterial and fungal microorganism culture test were used to identify the organisms following culture. In addition, serum from each patient was tested for M. pneumoniae using the passive particle agglutination test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rapid identification culture procedure indicated that 41 patients were M. pneumoniae positive, only 6 patients were M. pneumoniae positive based on PCR, and all of the positive cultures had fungus contamination. There were only 26 of the 41 patients whose serum M. pneumoniae tested positive. Passive particle agglutination test shows 38.6% of the patients were M. pneumoniae positive (51 out of 132). Compared with the passive particle agglutination test, the specificity, sensitivity of rapid M. pneumoniae identification culture method are 81.48% and 50.98%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rapid identification of M. pneumoniae culture test is easy to perform and provides results fast, but has poor concordance with the M. pneumoniae PCR and serum M. pneumoniae antibody test due to the high fungus contamination. This commercial rapid M. pneumoniae medium method needs improvement for clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Military General Hospital of Beijing PLA, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xuehui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hangwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lanhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xingyou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods; D015897:Comorbidity; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000276:immunology; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology*; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial