1. American Thoracic Society (1995) Standards for the diagnosis and care of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 152: 77Sâ120S.
2. Ballard AL , Fry NK , Chan L , Surman SB , Lee JV , Harrison TG & Towner KJ (2000) Detection of Legionella pneumophila using a real-time PCR hybridisation assay. J Clin Microbiol 38: 4215â4218.
3. Barski P , Piechowicz L , Galinski J & Kur J (1996) Rapid assay for detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using multiplex PCR. Mol Cell Probe 10: 471â475.
4. Chung F , Barnes N , Allen M , Angus R , Corris P , Knox A , Miles J , Morice A , O'Reilly J & Richardson M (2002) Assessing the burden of respiratory disease in the UK. Respir Med 96: 963â975.
5. Dixon JMS & Miller DC (1965) Value of dilute inocula in cultural examination of sputum. Lancet 7421: 1046â1048.