Haemophilus parainfluenzae Endocarditis: Application of a Molecular Approach for Identification of Pathogenic Bacterial Species

Authors

Kamal A. Hamed, Stanford University School of Medicine
Philip R. Dormitzer, Stanford University School of Medicine
Catherine K. Su, Stanford University School of Medicine
David A. Relman, Stanford University School of MedicineFollow

Date of this Version

1994

Document Type

Article

Citation

Clinical Infectious Diseases 1994; 19:677-83.

Abstract

Haemophilus parainfluenzae is both a human oropharyngeal commensal bacterium and a cause of serious invasive disease. The fastidious growth characteristics of this organism and the poor specificity of traditional methods for species identification are likely to have led to inaccuracies in the diagnosis of infections caused by H. parainfluenzae and related organisms. We report a case of H. parainfluenzae endocarditis in which confusion related to microbial identification was resolved by the analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences. Rapid identification was facilitated by amplification of 16S ribosomal DNA directly from cultured cells with use of the polymerase chain reaction and by direct DNA sequence determination of the amplified product. This procedure is potentially useful for the identification of fastidious bacterial pathogens by reference laboratories.