Detection of Neisseria Meningitidis in clinical samples by a duplex real-time PCR targeting the porA and ctrA genes.

Background: In recent years PCR has proven to be a highly sensitive and specific method for the diagnosis of infections caused by Neisseria meningitidis.

Study Design: We developed and evaluated a N. meningitidis LightCycler real-time duplex PCR (NM-LCdPCR) capable of simultaneously detecting and distinguishing between two separate genes on the N.