Ribosomal RNA-based panbacterial polymerase chain reaction for rapid diagnosis of septicaemia in Intensive Care Unit patients

Early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis by appropriate antibiotics is of utmost importance. Therefore, we evaluated 16S rRNA panbacterial polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for rapid diagnosis of sepsis in 49 adult patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and compared it with an automated blood culture. 8 ml of 10 ml blood collected was inoculated into BACTEC® aerobic bottle and the remaining 2 ml was used for DNA extraction and PCR. 109 of 115 (93%) episodes of suspected sepsis showed concordant results between automated culture and PCR. Six episodes were positive by PCR only. Panbacterial PCR reduces turnaround time with rapid differentiation between systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis.