Comparison of polymerase chain reaction and conventional culture for the detection of legionellae in cooling tower waters in Singapore |
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| Authors: | D. L. K. Ng,B. B. Koh,L. Tay,& B. H. Heng |
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| Affiliation: | Food and Water Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore |
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| Abstract: | A total of 80 cooling tower water samples were investigated for legionellae using both cultural and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. PCR was performed with the Perkin Elmer EnviroAmp™ Legionella kit. Forty-seven samples (58·8%) were found positive by both methods ; 29 samples (36·3%) were positive by PCR only, while four samples (5%) showed PCR inhibition despite the adoption of the more stringent sample preparation protocol especially designed to eliminate inhibitors. |
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