{
  "abstract": "Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a global public health burden with high morbidity, but timely diagnosis is hindered by limitations of conventional methods. We validated a novel multiplex real-time PCR (mRT-PCR) for CAP diagnosis in the emergency department, focusing on Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( M. pneumoniae ). A retrospective cohort of 371 CAP patients (2019–2021) from the Chinese PLA General Hospital was enrolled. The panel targeted 85 pathogens (40 bacteria, 18 viruses, 17 fungi, 10 other) plus 8 resistance genes, with a turnaround time (TAT) under 4 h and a cost of approximately US$100 per test. mRT-PCR showed performance comparable to mNGS for common pathogens (concordance >69% for bacteria/fungi) and high concordance with the final clinical diagnosis. Notably, it detected M. pneumoniae in 36.7% (136/371) of cases, outperforming conventional methods by identifying 204 exclusive positives (55.0% of cohort), with M. pneumoniae (40%) and viruses (30%) predominating. Polymicrobial infections occurred in 36.1% of cases; M. pneumoniae co-infections (38 cases) showed elevated neutrophils and reduced lymphocytes vs. single infections. An independent reference standard analysis excluding both index tests showed that 24.1% (210/873) of calls were independently corroborated - high for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and M. pneumoniae , lower for S. pneumoniae , consistent with the limited sensitivity of sputum culture. Unlike conventional syndromic panels such as FilmArray, which profile fewer targets without concurrent resistance-gene detection, this mRT-PCR combines broad coverage with rapid TAT and low cost, making it promising for timely CAP diagnosis, particularly in resource-limited settings and for targeted therapy.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital",
    "Department of Emergency, The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Medical School of Chinese PLA"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Liuyang Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Chaomin Guo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Qiang Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jiyong Yang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Heng Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yongzhi Zhai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yanning Ma"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fgsq2v0gwg5kg.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1979614",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13683612",
  "id": "fgsq2v0gwg5kg",
  "issns": [
    "1664-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1979614/full",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2713|Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220863895",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13683612?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13683612",
  "pmid": "42908916",
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fgsq2v0gwg5kg.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fmicb.2026.1979614",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2026.1979614/full"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42908916",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42908916"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2713|Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Clinical validation of a novel multiplex real-time PCR for diagnosing community-acquired pneumonia in the emergency department: a promising diagnostic tool for Mycoplasma pneumoniae",
  "title_text": "Clinical validation of a novel multiplex real-time PCR for diagnosing community-acquired pneumonia in the emergency department: a promising diagnostic tool for Mycoplasma pneumoniae",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fgsq2v0gwg5kg",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Microbiology",
  "versions": []
}