Quantitative Detection of Respiratory <i>Chlamydia pneumoniae</i> Infection by Real-Time PCR

Abstract

Real-time PCR was evaluated as a quantitative diagnostic method for Chlamydia pneumoniae infection using different respiratory samples. Real-time PCR had efficiency equal to or better than that of nested touchdown PCR. This study confirmed sputum as the best sampling material to detect an ongoing C. pneumoniae infection.