title: Dual infection with Bordetella pertussis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in three infants: case reports.
abstract: Studying pertussis-like respiratory infections, we report the cases of three infants with evidence of both Bordetella pertussis and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Bordetella infection was identified by the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal specimens. Neither B. pertussis nor B. parapertussis were recovered on the culture of nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs) from any subjects. M. pneumoniae etiology was diagnosed by culture and RT-PCR. The evolution was fatal for all of the subjects. We conclude that, among patients with Bordetella infection, co-infection with another respiratory pathogen is often probable, and these mixed infections might cause a more severe form of illness, sometimes leading to death.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Children's Hospital of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia. zouariasma1@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zouari
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Touati
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smaoui
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kasdaghli
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Menif
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ben Jaballah
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ben Hassen
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guiso
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kechrid
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001885:Bordetella Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D001886:Bordetella pertussis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060085:Coinfection; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014416:Tunisia