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Polymerase Chain Reaction Techniques in the Diagnosis of Pneumonia

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Community-Acquired Pneumonia

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Conclusions

A number of PCR assays have been developed for detecting the majority of bacterial pathogens. Only a limited number of these assays have been subject to stringent evaluation for clinical diagnosis. Those that have, such as tests for Mycobacteria and Chlamydia trachomatis, are available commercially and are accepted diagnostic tests (Ieven & Goossens, 1997). The bacteria once referred to as the atypical pathogens of pneumonia are fastidious and difficult to detect. The treatment of pneumonia would greatly benefit from tests that could rapidly detect infection due to these organisms. PCR may represent such a test, but there is an overwhelming lack of data on the efficacy of PCR as a diagnostic tool for infections due to C. pneumoniae, Legionella species, and M. pneumoniae. Limited studies and preliminary data suggest that PCR may add to the diagnostic repertoire, but this procedure may lack the sensitivity and specificity to provide anything other than supplemental data for the clinician. Biologists and statisticians need to work together to develop mathematical procedures that will allow the effective evaluation of promising new molecular techniques that can replace imperfect reference tests. Additional studies are needed to evaluate the applicability of PCR to the diagnosis of pneumonia.

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  1. Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Disease, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 30333

    Barry S. Fields

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  1. University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Thomas J. Marrie

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© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Fields, B.S. (2002). Polymerase Chain Reaction Techniques in the Diagnosis of Pneumonia. In: Marrie, T.J. (eds) Community-Acquired Pneumonia. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46834-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-46834-4_5

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