Pneumococcal serotypes causing pediatric meningitis in Turkey: application of a new technology in the investigation of cases negative by conventional culture

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2010 Mar;29(3):289-93. doi: 10.1007/s10096-009-0853-y. Epub 2010 Jan 20.

Abstract

The surveillance of serotypes causing invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) provides further insight into the pathogenesis of pneumococcal disease and is important in order to track vaccine impact. Although the Quellung reaction has been accepted as the standard method for serotyping, prior antibiotic use causes a gap in studies based on bacterial culture. A total of 31 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples found to be positive for Streptococcus pneumoniae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the ply gene during an active surveillance were tested in a Bio-Plex multiplex antigen detection assay capable of detecting 14 serotypes/groups (1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F/A, 8, 9V, 14, 18, 19A, 19F, and 23F). Twenty-seven CSF samples could be serotyped. The most common serotypes were serotypes 5 (n = 7), 19F (n = 5), 1 (n = 3), and 23F (n = 3). Theoretical coverage rates by the heptavalent (PCV7), 10-valent (PCV10), and 13-valent (PCV13) pneumococcal conjugate vaccines for bacterial meningitis were 48.1, 85.2, and 92.3%, respectively, for all age groups and 71.4, 85.7, and 100.0%, respectively, for those under 2 years of age. We propose that antigen detection assay used in conjunction with a PCR assay can be effectively applied in CSF samples to detect the pneumococcal serotypes, especially when the patient may have already been treated and, therefore, the cultures would be negative.

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Bacterial / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Antigens, Bacterial / genetics
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology
  • Bacterial Proteins / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • DNA, Bacterial / cerebrospinal fluid
  • False Negative Reactions
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Meningitis, Pneumococcal / epidemiology
  • Meningitis, Pneumococcal / microbiology*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Population Surveillance
  • Serotyping / methods*
  • Streptococcal Vaccines / immunology
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / classification*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / genetics*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / isolation & purification
  • Streptolysins / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Streptolysins / genetics
  • Turkey / epidemiology

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Streptococcal Vaccines
  • Streptolysins
  • plY protein, Streptococcus pneumoniae