Accuracy of conventional PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene with the Ot-16sRF1 and Ot-16sRR1 primers for diagnosis of scrub typhus: A case-control study

Abstract

We retrospectively evaluated the accuracy of conventional PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene (16S C-PCR) using the Ot-16sRF1/Ot-16sRR1 primers for diagnosing scrub typhus. The diagnosis of Orientia tsutsugamushi infection by 16S C-PCR presented an increased sensitivity of 87.0% and specificity of 100% compared with those obtained with other targets and is thus a simple and clinically useful method with good diagnostic accuracy.