Detection of Bordetella pertussis from Clinical Samples by Culture and End-Point PCR in Malaysian Patients

Abstract EN

Pertussis or whooping cough is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis.

In vaccinating countries, infants, adolescents, and adults are relevant patients groups.

A total of 707 clinical specimens were received from major hospitals in Malaysia in year 2011.

These specimens were cultured on Regan-Lowe charcoal agar and subjected to end-point PCR, which amplified the repetitive insertion sequence IS481 and pertussis toxin promoter gene.

Out of these specimens, 275 were positive: 4 by culture only, 6 by both end-point PCR and culture, and 265 by end-point PCR only.

The majority of the positive cases were from ≤3 months old patients (77.1%) (P<0.001).

There was no significant association between type of samples collected and end-point PCR results (P>0.05).

Our study showed that the end-point PCR technique was able to pick up more positive cases compared to culture method.