title: A prospective study of infections with atypical pneumonia organisms in acute exacerbations of chronic bronchitis.
abstract: The objective of this paper was to study the incidence of 6 atypical pneumonia pathogens or atypical organisms in local patients admitted for acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. This is a prospective observational study. Over a period of 3 years (1995 to 1997), 90 patients admitted to a large general hospital in Singapore for acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis were tested for the following infections: Legionella, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia, influenza A, influenza B and parainfluenza viruses, using paired serological examination. The antibiotic prescribing pattern by the attending physicians in these cases were also examined. Positive serologies were found in 31 patients (34%), of whom 26 patients (28%) had viral infections. The most common organism was influenza A with 18 positive serologies (20%). Five patients were tested positive for Legionella. There was no evidence of acute infections by Mycoplasma pneumoniae or chlamydia using serological tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Goh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johan
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: Y T
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D011024:Pneumonia, Viral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents