Simultaneous detection of 'Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae', and 'Legionella pneumophila' in patients hospitalised for community-acquired pneumonia in South Jordan

Objectives: To detect 'Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila' simultaneously in hospitalized community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients in Southern Jordan; the diagnostic utility of PCR and ELISA methods in determining their prevalence, detection of acute infection and identification of the causal agent from a single serum. Methods: Blood sera and nasopharyngeal samples were collected from 200 participants (100 individuals from each of CAP patients and controls). Seroprevalences of IgG and IgM antibodies raised against the three pathogens was analysed in collected sera by ELISA, while presence of their DNA in nasopharyngeal samples was detected by standard PCR. Concurrent infection was detected by multiplex PCR. Results: Based on ELISA-IgG, the general prevalence rates of 'C. pneumoniae and M. pneumoniae' were significantly higher in CAP cases than controls (p= 0.02 and p