Detection of respiratory viral and bacterial pathogens causing pediatric community-acquired pneumonia in Beijing using real-time PCR

Zhang, Tie-Gang; Li, Ai-Hua; Lyu, Min; Chen, Meng; Huang, Fang; Wu, Jiang

In this study, we used commercially available multiplex real-time PCR kits to detect respiratory pathogens in pediatric CAP patients. The kits were able to detect 16 respiratory viruses and two bacteria. We compared the specificity and sensitivity of this kit with singleplex conventional PCR 16 and a commercial multiplex conventional PCR kit (Seeplex ® RV15 ACE Detection kit, Seegene, South Korea) using 73 throat swab specimens from upper respiratory tract infection cases. The positive factor numbers of singleplex conventional PCR, conventional multiplex PCR and multiplex real-time PCR were 56, 41 and 87, respectively (Data not published). The factors detected only by the multiplex real-time PCR assay were confirmed using previously published methods. 17 Using the multiplex real-time PCR assay the etiological agents could be identified within three hours of receiving the clinical samples. We chose to use the multiplex assay for its sensitivity, specify, and rapidity of the results.