title: Application of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay to detectLegionella pneumophilain patients of community-acquired pneumonia in a tertiary care hospital.
abstract: Legionella pneumophila is one of the important pathogen responsible for community -acquired pneumonia attributing for 1-5% of cases. Since early and accurate therapy reduces mortality, rapid and reliable diagnostic methods are needed. A total of 134 samples of blood, urine and respiratory tract fluids were collected. Blood was tested for IgG, IgM and IgA antibodies using commercially available kits. A total of 8 (6%) samples were found to be positive for L. pneumophila by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), compared to conventional PCR where 6 (4.4%) samples were positive. Serology was positive in a total of 32 (23%) cases though only 3 (2.2%) of the PCR-positive cases were positive by serology as well. These results suggest that real-time PCR can detect Legionella infection early in the course of the disease before serological response develops.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angrup
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valavane
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Passi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Padmaja
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Javed
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Dey
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dhawan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, All Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kabra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult