Use of 2 pneumococcal common protein real-time polymerase chain reaction assays in healthy children colonized with Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers promise in pneumococcal diagnostics, but whether nasopharyngeal carriage causes false-positive results in people colonized with Streptococcus pneumoniae is unknown. We found in serum no positive samples for pneumococcal DNA in 100 carriers and noncarriers using 2 different real-time PCR assays targeting lytA and psaA genes.

A real-time polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae in blood using a mouse model: a potential new "gold standard".

Better diagnostics for pneumococcal disease are urgently needed. In a murine model, real-time polymerase chain reaction was superior to conventional culture in detecting pneumococcus in blood, particularly in early disease and after antibiotic administration, and could distinguish between commensalism and infection.