title: Chlamydia pneumoniae as a cause of community-acquired pneumonia in hospitalized patients in Berlin.
abstract: The incidence of community-acquired pneumonia due to Chlamydia pneumoniae was evaluated in a 1-year prospective study of 236 hospitalized patients with 237 manifestations of pneumonia. The microbiological diagnosis was based on results of cultures of blood and sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and results of complement fixation tests and indirect immunofluorescence of acute- and convalescent-phase sera for C. pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella species, Coxiella burnetii, and respiratory viruses. Diagnosis of acute C. pneumoniae infection was made on the basis of the results of microimmunofluorescence of paired serum samples. A microbiological diagnosis was obtained in 160 cases (67.5%). C. pneumoniae was the causative agent in 27 patients (11.4%). The following organisms were the other etiologic agents of pneumonia: Streptococcus pneumoniae, 30 cases (12.7%) (bacteremia occurred in 53.3%); Mycoplasma pneumoniae, 22 (9.3%); respiratory viruses, 22 (9.3%); and Enterobacteriaceae, 18 (7.6%). The prevalence of C. pneumoniae antibody in our study population was 47.5%. As has been increasingly reported in recent years and confirmed by this study, C. pneumoniae appears to be a common etiologic agent of community-acquired pneumonia and upper respiratory tract infection in Germany.
authors.affiliation: Medical Department, Klinikum Benjamin Franklin, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lode
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruckdeschel
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heidrich
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rolfs
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Fehrenbach
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mauch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Höffken
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001604:Berlin / Q000453:epidemiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies