title: Chlamydia sp. in hospitalised children with community acquired pneumonia.
abstract: Our aim was to document the prevalence of chlamydial infection in children less than five years of age with Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP). Seventy three children, 1 month to 5 years of age, hospitalized with CAP were enrolled over a period of one year. Microimmunofluorescence (MIF) was done to detect IgM antibodies against Chlamydia sp. in sera of all patients; PCR was performed to detect C. pneumoniae DNA in nasopharyngeal aspirates. The prevalence of Chlamydia species infection in CAP in children < 5 years of age was 5.5% (4/73). Two cases were positive for C. trachomatis antibodies; one case was positive for C. pneumoniae antibodies and one case was positive for C. pneumoniae DNA. Chlamydia sp. have an important role in CAP in children < 5 years and for early diagnosis of infection, use of more than one method i.e. PCR and serology both is advisable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, King Georges Medical University, Lucknow 226 003, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Awasthi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence