Multicenter Clinical Validation of a Cartridge-Based Real-Time PCR System for Detection of Coccidioides spp. in Lower Respiratory Specimens.

Available methods for the diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis have significant shortcomings relative to accuracy and timeliness. We retrospectively and prospectively evaluated the diagnostic performance and reproducibility of a new cartridge-based real-time PCR assay for spp. directly in lower respiratory secretions and compared them to today's "gold standard," fungal culture.

Dominance of multidrug resistant CC271 clones in macrolide-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae in Arizona.

Background: Rates of resistance to macrolide antibiotics in Streptococcus pneumoniae are rising around the world due to the spread of mobile genetic elements harboring mef(E) and erm(B) genes and post-vaccine clonal expansion of strains that carry them.

Results: Characterization of 592 clinical isolates collected in Arizona over a 10 year period shows 23.6% are macrolide resistant.