Real-time PCR investigation into the importance of Fusobacterium necrophorum as a cause of acute pharyngitis in general practice

• Published in: Journal of medical microbiology Vol. 53; no. 10; pp. 1029 - 1035
• Main Authors: Aliyu, S. H, Marriott, R. K, Curran, M. D, Parmar, S, Bentley, N, Brown, N. M, Brazier, J. S, Ludlam, H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Soc General Microbiol 01.10.2004; Society for General Microbiology
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fusobacterium necrophorum; Fusobacterium necrophorum - isolation & purification; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Molecular Sequence Data; Pharyngitis - etiology; Pharyngitis - microbiology; Pharynx - microbiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Polymerase chain reaction; Microbiology; Acute; Bacteria; ENT disease; Fusobacterium necrophorum; Pharynx disease; Pharyngitis; Real time; Bacteroidaceae
• ISSN: 0022-2615; 1473-5644
• DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.45648-0

1 Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Health Protection Agency, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK 2 Anaerobe Reference Laboratory, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, UK Correspondence M. D. Curran martin.curran{at}addenbrookes.nhs.uk Received February 23, 2004 Accepted June 2, 2004 Fusobacterium necrophorum is recognized as the cause of a severe life-threatening illness characterized by bacteraemia with metastatic abscesses following an acute sore throat (Lemierre's disease). However, the importance of F. necrophorum as a cause of simple sore throat in the community is unknown. Using quantitative real-time PCR with primers targeting the rpoB gene, 100 routine throat swabs collected from patients presenting to general practitioners with pharyngitis were analysed for the presence of F. necrophorum -specific DNA. The results were compared with those obtained from throat swabs collected from 100 healthy subjects. Ten clinical samples were positive for F. necrophorum DNA, identified as F. necrophorum subspecies funduliforme , using a haemagglutinin-related protein gene-specific PCR assay. All the healthy controls were negative (two-tailed P value = 0.0015; Fisher exact test). These findings suggest that F. necrophorum may play a more important role as a cause of simple sore throat in the community than has been previously appreciated. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the rpoB genes of F. necrophorum subspp. necrophorum and funduliforme are AY519655 and AY519656, respectively.