In view of the importance of early diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM), the efficiency of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), one of the most reliable and sensitive DNA-based assays, was compared with conventional methods (acid-fast microscopy and culture) for the detection of M. tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) specimens from patients suspected of TBM. Of the 29 CSF specim...

The aim of this study was to compare a real-time PCR assay, with a conventional culture/PCR method, to detect S. aureus, mecA and Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) genes in animals and retail meat, using a two-step selective enrichment protocol. A total of 234 samples were examined (77 animal nasal swabs, 112 retail raw meat, and 45 deli meat). The multiplex real-time PCR targeted the genes: nu...

Accurate and timely diagnosis of infection status in infants born to women infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is of paramount importance. The comparative accuracy of five diagnostic decision rules was evaluated in 208 HIV-exposed infants (32 infected, 176 uninfected) based on laboratory testing during the first 6 months of life. Diagnostic rules A and B, which required single bloo...

background: trichomoniasis is an extremely common sexually transmitted infection (sti) world­wide and is associated with important public health problems, including amplification of hiv transmission. this disease is in forms of symptomatic and asymptomatic in women and may de­pend on host as well as parasite variables. most of the studies reported from females are based on examination of vagina...

BACKGROUND To achieve early diagnosis and effective treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, simple and sensitive methods that enhance the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) from clinical specimens are needed. This study compared the effectiveness and suitability of an insertion sequence (IS 6110) based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay with conventional methods for the d...

BACKGROUND Current laboratory methods for monitoring the response to therapy for tuberculosis (TB) rely on mycobacterial culture. Their clinical usefulness is therefore limited by the slow growth rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Rapid methods to reliably quantify the response to anti-TB drugs are desirable. METHODS We developed 2 real-time PCR assays that use hydrolysis probes to target DN...

Novel real-time PCR assays targeting the Bordetella pertussis insertion sequence IS481, the toxin promoter region and Bordetella parapertussis insertion sequence IS1001 were designed. PCR assays were capable of detecting ≤10 copies of target DNA per reaction, with an amplification efficiency of ≥90 %. From September 2003 to December 2009, per-nasal swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates submitted f...

Aims: To evaluate a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assay to detect fungi in scrapings from infected corneas. Methods: A PCR assay was developed to amplify a portion of the fungal 18S ribosome gene. Corneal scrapings from 30 patients with presumed infectious keratitis were evaluated using this assay, as well as by standard microbiological techniques, and the results were compared. Conjunc...