Table 2.

Clinical sensitivities and mean C_T values for real-time PCR kits^a

Kit	No. of positive specimens identified/total no. of positive specimens	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Mean CT ± SD	P valued
In-house kit	66/66	100	100	25.5 ± 8.6
Argene kit	60/66	90.9	100	27.1 ± 9.5	NS
Cepheid kit	62/66	93.9	100	25.8 ± 9.2	NS
Focus Diagnostics kit	64/66	97	100	24.8 ± 8.8b	NS
Shanghai ZJ Bio-Tech kit	34/66	51.5	100	37.3 ± 8c	<0.01

^aData for the four real-time PCR kits tested are in comparison to results of the in-house real-time PCR assay for detection of the Bordetella IS481 sequence in 66 Bordetella-positive specimens.

^bAs recommended by the manufacturer, the C_T retained for the comparison was 15.

^cAs recommended by the manufacturer, the C_T retained for the comparison was 7.

^dDetermined by paired t test (2). NS, not significant.