Actinobaculum schaalii, a Common Uropathogen in Elderly Patients, Denmark

作者:Bank Steffen*; Jensen Anders; Hansen Thomas M; Soby Karen M; Prag Jorgen
来源:Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2010, 16(1): 76-80.
DOI:10.3201/eid1601.090761

摘要

Actinobaculum schaalii can cause urinary tract infections and septicemia but is difficult to identify by cultivation. To obtain a fast diagnosis and identify A. schaalii, we developed a TaqMan real-time quantitative PCR. Routine urine samples were obtained from 177 hospitalized patients and 75 outpatients in Viborg County, Denmark, in 2008-2009. The PCR detected A. schaalii in 22% of samples from patients >60 years of age. This assay showed that A. schaalii is more common than implied by routine cultivation. In 90% of PCR-positive urine samples, other common uropathogens were identified. This finding suggests that A. schaalii is a common, undetected, bacterial pathogen. Our results suggest that A. schaalii may be a more common pathogen than previously thought, especially in patients with unexplained chronic urinary tract infections, who are often treated with trimethoprim or ciprofloxacin, to which A. schaalii is resistant.

  • 出版日期2010-1