Subject(s)
Bacterial Toxins/genetics , Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology , Cystic Fibrosis/complications , Exotoxins/genetics , Leukocidins/genetics , Methicillin Resistance , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects , Staphylococcus aureus/genetics , Community-Acquired Infections/epidemiology , Genotype , Humans , Molecular Epidemiology , Patients , Staphylococcal Infections/epidemiology , Staphylococcus aureus/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) types and Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene carriage were compared among suspected community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus MRSA (CA-MRSA) and health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) isolates. CA-MRSA isolates carried the SCCmec type IV complex, and most were PVL positive. The HA-MRSA isolates carried the SCCmec type II complex and did not harbor the PVL genes.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Toxins/genetics , Chromosomes, Bacterial/genetics , Exotoxins/genetics , Leukocidins/genetics , Methicillin Resistance/genetics , Staphylococcus aureus/classification , Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology , Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology , Cross Infection/microbiology , Florida , Humans , Methicillin/pharmacology , Microbial Sensitivity Tests , Staphylococcal Infections/microbiology , Staphylococcus aureus/drug effects , Staphylococcus aureus/geneticsABSTRACT
This study compared two published TaqMan PCR assays targeting different regions of the HIV-1 genome for detection of HIV-1 proviral DNA. The gag specific PCR demonstrated a lower sensitivity than the assay targeting the LTR region. The LTR assay is a highly reproducible and specific technique for HIV-1 proviral DNA detection.
Subject(s)
DNA, Viral/blood , Genes, gag , HIV-1/isolation & purification , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Proviruses/isolation & purification , HIV Infections/diagnosis , HIV Infections/virology , HIV Long Terminal Repeat , HIV-1/genetics , Humans , Proviruses/genetics , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and Specificity , Taq PolymeraseABSTRACT
Diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia is complicated by the lack of a diagnostic reference standard that is highly sensitive and specific. Latent class analysis (LCA) is a mathematical technique that relates an unobserved ("latent") infection to multiple diagnostic test results by use of a statistical model. We used classical analysis and LCA to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of blood culture, sputum Gram stain, sputum polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and urine antigen testing for diagnosing pneumococcal pneumonia among 149 adults with community-acquired pneumonia. On the basis of LCA models, sensitivity of autolysin PCR and pneumolysin PCR was 82% and 89%, respectively, but specificity was low, 38% and 27%, respectively. For urine antigen testing, sensitivity was 77%-78%, and specificity was 67%-71%. Results of the LCA models were comparable with those obtained from classical analysis. LCA may be useful for diagnostic test evaluation and for determining the prevalence of pneumococcal infection in epidemiological studies of community-acquired pneumonia and in vaccine efficacy trials.
