Abstract
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common disease responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. However, the definite etiology of CAP often remains unresolved, suggesting that unknown agents of pneumonia remain to be identified. The recently discovered members of the order Chlamydiales, Chlamydia-related bacteria (CRB), are considered as possible emerging agents of CAP. Parachlamydia acanthamoebae is the most studied candidate. It survives and replicates inside free-living amoeba, which it might potentially use as a vehicle to infect animals and humans. A Mycoplasma pneumoniae outbreak was observed in Kymenlaakso region in Southeastern Finland during August 2017–January 2018. We determined the occurrence of Chlamydiales bacteria and their natural host, free-living amoeba in respiratory specimens collected during this outbreak with molecular methods. Altogether, 22/278 (7.9%) of the samples contained Chlamydiales DNA. By sequence analysis, majority of the CRBs detected were members of the Parachlamydiaceae family. Amoebal DNA was not detected within the sample material. Our study further proposes that Parachlamydiaceae could be a potential agent causing atypical CAP in children and adolescents.
Highlights
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common disease responsible for significant morbidity and mortality
All samples were studied by a PCR based method amplifying Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae [14]
Of the 278 samples, only one (1/278, 0.4%) was shown to contain Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA. This sample was from a patient in group 1
Summary
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common disease responsible for significant morbidity and mortality. A variety of micro-organisms, including bacteria and viruses, can cause CAP. Chlamydiaceae contains well-known veterinary pathogens Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia pecorum that are known to be zoonotically transmitted to humans from infected animals (birds and livestock, respectively) and can cause pneumonia. In addition to Chlamydiaceae, the order Chlamydiales contains a wide and evolving set of novel bacteria, recently suggested to be taxonomically classified in 13 additional families within the order and collectively called Chlamydia-related bacteria (CRB) [1]. Several of the CRBs have been suggested to cause respiratory disease and pneumonia in humans. Simkania negevensis and Rhabdochlamydia spp. are detected in association with respiratory infections [10,11,12]. DNA was detected in 12% of respiratory specimens from Finnish patients with respiratory tract infection [11]
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