Abstract
This study was carried out to determine the etiological agents in patients withcommunity-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Ninety-three patients with radiologicallyconfirmed pneumonia admitted to the Medical City, Baghdad Teaching Hospitalthrough the period extended from October 2001 till March 2002. Also to investigate apossible correlation between etiological agents in patients with CAP and comorbidfactors including age. The etiological agents were identified from 50 (53.8%) patientswith CAP, while no agents were detected in 43 (46.2%) patients. Blood samples weretaken from all patients for identification of Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasmapneumoniae infection. Sputum samples for culture were taken from 76 (81.7%)patients; bacterial species were isolated from 22 (23.7%) samples. Streptococcuspneumoniae was the most frequent typical bacterial pathogen isolated from 17 (18.3%)patients. Atypical pathogens (C. pneumoniae and M. pneumoniae) using ELISAtechnique were identified in 22 (23.6%) and 20 (21.5%) respectively. Atypical pathogenswere a most common causes of CAP identified from (39.8%) cases. Sixteen (17.2%) ofthe patients had mixed infections (two pathogens were identified in 12 (75%) and threepathogens in 4 (25%) patients). C. pneumoniae and S. pneumoniae were the mostcommon mixed organisms found in 6 (37.5%) of patients.
Highlights
Despite advances in the management of severe infectious diseases, communityacquired pneumonia (CAP) remains the major cause of mortality and the six most common cause of death overall [1, 2]
This study was carried out to determine the etiological agents in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP)
Table (1) revealed that M. pneumoniae identified in 22 (23.6%), while C. pneumoniae was identified in 20(21.5%)
Summary
Despite advances in the management of severe infectious diseases, communityacquired pneumonia (CAP) remains the major cause of mortality and the six most common cause of death overall [1, 2]. CAP can be caused by a myriad of pathogens with differing antimicrobial susceptibilities, and no sufficiently rapid Materials and Methods This study included 93 patients with CAP. A prospective study was conducted in order to determine the etiological agents of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in adult population requiring hospitalization to guide the empirical antibiotic therapy. 60 (79%) sputum samples were suitable for culture (considering > 25 neutrophils and < 10 epithelial cells as a valid specimen, evaluated by gram-stain Results Out of 93 patients studied, the etiological agents were identified in 50 (53.8%) patients either by isolation of the causative organisms on culture media or by detection of the host's specific immune response by serology. Table (1) revealed that M. pneumoniae identified in 22 (23.6%), while C. pneumoniae was identified in 20(21.5%)
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