Investigation of the presence of some virulence factors of the Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates among patients in Basra Governora

Abstract

Extensive studies have been conducted on the microbial properties of Streptococcus pneumoniae  all over the world ,but there are few studies in Iraq on the most important factors of virulence possessed by S.pneumoniae isolates found in Iraq , 195 of sputum specimens were collected from patients with pneumonia acquired from the community who were clinically diagnosed by specialized doctors depending on symptoms and  Radiography of Chest . Eighteen isolates of  S.pneumoniae were  diagnosed  by  special traditional methods that used in the phenotypic identification . All isolates 18 (100%) have been  given  positive results for  the optochin test , bile solubility test ,latex agglutination . Genetically , the study of virulence factors was limited to only 11 (61.11%) isolates by using the Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) technique, four genes were investigated responsible for virulence factors deemed necessary for S.pneumoniae to colonize and invade the host. The results showed that the  isolates of S.pneumoniae in Basra  city were fierce ,where  the results of PCR amplification showed  that  the  genes CpsA,  LytA and  Ply  were found in all isolates 11 (61.11%) while the Psa gene was present in  only 9 (50%) isolates within the current study.