Prevalence of pathogens in the hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia in HebeiProvince

Abstract

An investigation on pathogens was performed on 219 consecutive adult inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) from November 2008 to August 2009 in Hebei Province.Sputum samples from all patients in acute phase were collected for multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection. Pathogens were identified in 125 patients. Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most common pathogen isolated in 75 cases (60％) ; influenza A virus was the most common virus isolated in 32 cases (26％) ; and mixed infection were found in 31 patients (25％). Streptococcus pneumoniae species were more frequent among patients aged ≤30 and 51 -70; Haemophilus influenzae species were more frequent among patients with coexisting disease; the percent of Mycoplasma pneumoniae species infections in the lowrisk groups( Ⅰ - Ⅱ ) was higher than patients in the high-risk groups ( Ⅲ - V ).The percent of virus pneumoniae species infections in patients with coexisting disease trended to higher than patients without coexisting disease,but the difference was not statistically significant ( P ＞ 0.05 ).The results indicate that Streptococcus pneumoniae remains the major bacteria,Viruses are frequently detected in CAP with influenza A virus being the most common one; and mixed infection should not be ignored.The age and underlying diseases are important factors influencing the distribution of pathogens. Key words: Community-acquired infection; Pathogens