Journal of clinical microbiology
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Sep 2011
Comparative StudyImproved detection of respiratory viruses in pediatric outpatients with acute respiratory illness by real-time PCR using nasopharyngeal flocked swabs.
Detection of respiratory viruses by real-time multiplexed PCR (M-PCR) and of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by M-PCR and immunofluorescence (IF) was evaluated using specimens collected by nasopharyngeal flocked swabbing (NFS) and nasal washes (NW). In children with mild respiratory illness, NFS collection was superior to NW collection for detection of viruses by M-PCR (sensitivity, 89.6% versus 79.2%; P = 0.0043). NFS collection was noninferior to NW collection in the detection of RSV by IF.
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J. Clin. Microbiol. · Sep 2011
Sensitivity and specificity of immunocytochemical staining of mycobacterial antigens in the cytoplasm of cerebrospinal fluid macrophages for diagnosing tuberculous meningitis.
The sensitivity and specificity of immunocytochemical staining of mycobacterial antigens in the cytoplasm of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) macrophages for diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) was prospectively compared with Ahuja criteria from 393 consecutive CSF specimens. The assay can play an important role for the diagnosis of TBM, with sensitivity of 73.5% and specificity of 90.7%.