JCM Figure table search 04
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Haase, A.
Right arrow Articles by Currie, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Haase, A.
Right arrow Articles by Currie, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 1998, p. 1039-1041, Vol. 36, No. 4
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of PCR for Diagnosis of Melioidosis

Antje Haase,1,2,* Maree Brennan,2 Siobhan Barrett,2 Yvonne Wood,2 Sarah Huffam,1 Daniel O'Brien,1 and Bart Currie1,2

Royal Darwin Hospital, Tiwi, Northern Territory 0810,1 and Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Northern Territory 0811,2 Australia

Received 2 July 1997/Returned for modification 17 November 1997/Accepted 6 January 1998

Previously published PCR-based diagnostic tests for melioidosis were evaluated for clinical usefulness. A Burkholderia pseudomallei 16S rRNA-derived primer set had a sensitivity approaching 100% for clinical samples from 22 culture-confirmed cases of melioidosis and enabled diagnosis of 3 culture-negative cases. However, samples from 10 of 30 inpatients from Royal Darwin Hospital with other diagnoses were positive by PCR, giving a specificity of 67% and a positive predictive value of only 70%. Although there are a number of intriguing possible explanations for our results, concerns of inappropriate therapy resulting from a positive result by PCR have led us to forgo the advantage of rapid PCR diagnosis for melioidosis until a better system is validated.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Royal Darwin Hospital, Pathology Labs, Biochemistry, Rocklands Dr., Tiwi, NT 0810, Australia. Phone: 61-8-89228085. Fax: 61-8-89228843. E-mail: antje.haase{at}nt.gov.au.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 1998, p. 1039-1041, Vol. 36, No. 4
0095-1137/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. Clin. Microbiol. Rev.
Clin. Vaccine Immunol. ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.