title: Detection of Bordetella pertussis from Clinical Samples by Culture and End-Point PCR in Malaysian Patients.
abstract: Pertussis or whooping cough is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. In vaccinating countries, infants, adolescents, and adults are relevant patients groups. A total of 707 clinical specimens were received from major hospitals in Malaysia in year 2011. These specimens were cultured on Regan-Lowe charcoal agar and subjected to end-point PCR, which amplified the repetitive insertion sequence IS481 and pertussis toxin promoter gene. Out of these specimens, 275 were positive: 4 by culture only, 6 by both end-point PCR and culture, and 265 by end-point PCR only. The majority of the positive cases were from ≤3 months old patients (77.1%) (P < 0.001). There was no significant association between type of samples collected and end-point PCR results (P > 0.05). Our study showed that the end-point PCR technique was able to pick up more positive cases compared to culture method.
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Unit, Infectious Disease Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Jalan Pahang, 50588 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Tan Xue
authors.initials: TX
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Unit, Infectious Disease Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Jalan Pahang, 50588 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Rohaidah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hashim
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Unit, Infectious Disease Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Jalan Pahang, 50588 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norazah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Unit, Infectious Disease Research Centre, Institute for Medical Research, Jalan Pahang, 50588 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Khairul Hafizi
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Abdullah