Observational studyInfection2021
Evaluation of a multiplex PCR screening approach to identify community-acquired bacterial co-infections in COVID-19: a multicenter prospective cohort study of the German competence network of community-acquired pneumonia (CAPNETZ).
Observational study in Infection, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Can Digital PCR Enhance the Detection ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Viral-bacterial codetection and clinical and laboratory characteristics in children hospitalized with lower respiratory tract infections in a private hospital in Lima, Peru: a cross-sectional study.Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines · 2026Article
- New insights into radiolabelled siderophores for molecular imaging of bacterial infections.Npj imaging · 2025Review
- Kinetic Patterns of Antibiotic Consumption in German Acute Care Hospitals from 2017 to 2023.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Can clinical findings at admission allow withholding of antibiotics in patients hospitalized for community acquired pneumonia when a test for a respiratory virus is positive?Pneumonia (Nathan Qld.) · 2025Article
- SARS-CoV-2 andFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Observational
- Immune Signatures Distinguish Pure and Mixed Sepsis in Critical COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of inflammation research · 2025Article
- Rapid Molecular Diagnostics of Pneumonia Caused by Gram-Negative Bacteria: A Clinician's Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The Assessment of Multiplex PCR in Identifying Bacterial Infections in Patients Hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Systematic Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Diagnosis of Legionnaires' Disease Assisted by Next-Generation Sequencing in a Patient with COVID-19.Infection and drug resistance · 2023Article
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated bacterial coinfection: Incidence, diagnosis and treatment.Journal of microbiology, immunology, and infection = Wei mian yu gan ran za zhi · 2022Review
- Legionnaires' Disease: Update on Diagnosis and Treatment.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2022Review
- SARS-CoV-2-Legionella Co-Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020-2021).Microorganisms · 2022Review
- Point-of-Care Testing by Multiplex-PCR in Different Compartments in Suspected Lower Respiratory Tract Infection After Lung Transplantation-Results of a Prospective Study.Transplant infectious disease : an official journal of the Transplantation SocietyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThorough knowledge of the nature and frequency of co-infections is essential to optimize treatment strategies and risk assessment in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to evaluate the multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening approach for community-acquired bacterial pathogens (CABPs) at hospital admission, which could facilitate identification of bacterial co-infections in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
methodsClinical data and biomaterials from 200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients from the observational cohort of the Competence Network for community-acquired pneumonia (CAPNETZ) prospectively recruited between March 17, 2020, and March 12, 2021 in 12 centers in Germany and Switzerland, were included in this study. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were analyzed on hospital admission using multiplex real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for a broad range of CABPs.
resultsIn total of 200 patients Staphylococcus aureus (27.0%), Haemophilus influenzae (13.5%), Streptococcus pneumoniae (5.5%), Moraxella catarrhalis (2.5%), and Legionella pneumophila (1.5%) were the most frequently detected bacterial pathogens. PCR detection of bacterial pathogens correlated with purulent sputum, and showed no correlation with ICU admission, mortality, and inflammation markers. Although patients who received antimicrobial treatment were more often admitted to the ICU and had a higher mortality rate, PCR pathogen detection was not significantly related to antimicrobial treatment.
conclusionGeneral CABP screening using multiplex PCR with nasopharyngeal swabs may not facilitate prediction or identification of bacterial co-infections in the early phase of COVID-19-related hospitalization. Most patients with positive PCR results appear to be colonized rather than infected at that time, questioning the value of routine antibiotic treatment on admission in COVID-19 patients.
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