J Lab Med Qual Assur.  2012 Jun;34(1):37-41.

Comparison of Sputum and Nasopharyngeal Aspirates for Molecular Detection of Community-Acquired Pneumonia Pathogens

• Kim S
• Lee SS
• Jung H
• Park HK
• Cho CR
• Um TH

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of infectious diseases and mortality. CAP is primarily treated by administration of adequate antibiotics against the causative pathogens. Because detection of some pathogens by the conventional culture method is difficult, the use of molecular diagnostic methods is increasing. Although an optimal specimen type is very important for proper testing, there is no consensus on the optimal specimen type for detecting CAP pathogens. In this study, we compared sputum specimens and nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) for molecular detection of 4 CAP-causing bacterial species.
METHODS
From September 2011 to January 2012, we collected sputum specimens and NPAs from CAP patients on the first or second day of hospitalization. The specimens were tested for Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Chlamydophila pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila by using commercial real-time PCR.
RESULTS
We collected 63 sputum specimens and 96 NPAs from 109 patients and found positive results for 38.1% (24/63) and 28.1% (27/96), respectively (P = 0.251). There were no significant differences in the positive rates obtained for sputum specimens of different quality.
CONCLUSIONS
The results obtained using NPAs and sputum specimens for the molecular detection of CAP pathogens were comparable.

Keyword

Community-acquired pneumonia; Real-time PCR; Sputum; Nasopharyngeal aspirate

MeSH Terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Chlamydial Pneumonia
Chlamydophila pneumoniae
Communicable Diseases
Consensus
Hospitalization
Humans
Legionella pneumophila
Mycoplasma pneumoniae
Pathology, Molecular
Pneumonia
Pneumonia, Mycoplasma
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Sputum
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Anti-Bacterial Agents