Real-time PCR investigation into the importance of Fusobacterium necrophorum as a cause of acute pharyngitis in general practice

Fusobacterium necrophorum is recognized as the cause of a severe life-threatening illness characterized by bacteraemia. with metastatic abscesses following an acute sore throat (Lemierre's disease). However, the importance of F necrophorum as a cause of simple sore throat in the community is unknown. Using quantitative real-time PCR with primers targeting the rpoB gene, 100 routine throat swabs collected from patients presenting to general practitioners with pharyngitis were analysed for the presence of F necrophorum-specific DNA. The results were compared with those obtained from throat swabs collected from 100 healthy subjects. Ten clinical samples were positive for F necrophorum DNA, identified as F necrophorum subspecies funduliforme, using a haemagglutinin-related protein gene-specific PCR assay. All the healthy controls were negative (two-tailed P value = 0.0015; Fisher exact test). These findings suggest that F. necrophorum may play a more important role as a cause of simple sore throat in the community than has been previously appreciated.