Infection Finder

A real-time PCR approach could help diagnose Helicobacter pylori infection in some patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, researchers led by Gloria Royo from the Hospital General Universitario de Elche in Spain report in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Drawing on samples from 158 patients, the researchers evaluated real-time PCR and conventional tests — such as the rapid urease test, culture studies, histological study, stool antigen test, or breath test — in diagnosing H. pylori infections in patients with bleeding peptic ulcers. "Our results suggest that our method has a good diagnostic capacity as compared with the classical gold standard in bleeding patients, and is slightly greater in antrum than in corpus," the researchers write. However, they note that the clinical significance of a small amount of microorganisms, which often gives a negative result in classical tests, must be examined as that could reflect a transient colonization.