Detection and quantification of Streptococcus pneumoniae from Iranian patients with pneumonia and individual carriers by real time PCR

The aim of this study was to develop a real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for quantitative detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae from clinical respiratory specimens. Initially, 184 respiratory specimens from patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) (n = 129) and 55 cases with hospital associated pneumonia (HAP) were bacteriologically investigated. To check the colonization status among the healthy individuals, 32 preschool and 31 adults were screened in parallel. All specimens were cultured on selective culture media to isolate S. pneumoniae, Legionella spp. and Mycoplasma spp. A 166 bp fragment corresponding to cbp A gene of S. pneumoniae was amplified from clinical specimen…