Journal article
Detection of group a streptococcal pharyngitis by quantitative PCR
EM Dunne, JL Marshall, CA Baker, J Manning, G Gonis, MH Danchin, PR Smeesters, C Satzke, AC Steer
BMC Infectious Diseases | BMC | Published : 2013
Open access
Abstract
Background: Group A streptococcus (GAS) is the most common bacterial cause of sore throat. School-age children bear the highest burden of GAS pharyngitis. Accurate diagnosis is difficult: the majority of sore throats are viral in origin, culture-based identification of GAS requires 24-48 hours, and up to 15% of children are asymptomatic throat carriers of GAS. The aim of this study was to develop a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay for detecting GAS pharyngitis and assess its suitability for clinical diagnosis.Methods: Pharyngeal swabs were collected from children aged 3-18 years (n = 91) and adults (n = 36) located in the Melbourne area who presented with sore throat. Six ..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by funding from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Quidel Corporation, and the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. Julia Marshall received funding from the Australian General Practice Education and Training Limited. We thank all study participants and the medical staff from the Royal Children's Hospital Emergency Department, Whittlesea Family Medical Centre, Childs Road Medical Centre Mill Park, and the Nepean Family Medical Centre. We thank Leisha Richardson, Rebecca Towers and Peter Fagan for providing details of the speB qPCR assay that was developed at Menzies School of Health Research. We acknowledge Melisa Gauci, Abdullateef Alshehri, and Anna Phillips for assistance with laboratory work, and Jacqui Williams for patient recruitment.