Flavobacterium meningosepticum is an uncommon pathogen causing nosocomial pneumonia and meningitis in newborns. It is usually resistant to antimicrobial agents used to treat gram-negative bacilli. While the pathogen often results in high mortality and serious sequelae in newborns, it is also found to cause to disease in adults.
A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR, or qPCR) is a laboratory technique of molecular biology based on the polymerase chain reaction(PCR). It monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR(i.e.,in real time), not at its end, as in conventional PCR.
Two common methods for the detection of PCR products in real-time PCR are(1)non-specific fluorescent dyes that intercalate with any double-stranded DNA and (2)sequence-specific DNA probes consisting of oligonucleotides that are labelled with a fluorescent reporter, which permits detection only after hybridization of the probe with its complementary sequence.