1. Chlamydia pneumoniae Carriage and Infection in Hospitalized Children with Respiratory Tract Diseases
- Author
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S. M. Schmidt, Siegfried Wiersbitzky, L. Gürtler, Wiersbitzky H, C. E. Müller, and M. Krechting
- Subjects
DNA, Bacterial ,Male ,Microbiology (medical) ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Chlamydia antibodies ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Risk Assessment ,Severity of Illness Index ,Statistics, Nonparametric ,Serology ,Immunoenzyme Techniques ,Germany ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Humans ,Chlamydiaceae ,Prospective Studies ,Child ,Chlamydophila Infections ,Respiratory Tract Infections ,Probability ,Chlamydia ,Base Sequence ,biology ,Incidence ,Respiratory disease ,General Medicine ,Chlamydophila pneumoniae ,medicine.disease ,biology.organism_classification ,Respiratory Function Tests ,Infectious Diseases ,Carriage ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Case-Control Studies ,Child, Preschool ,Chlamydiales ,Carrier State ,Immunology ,Female ,Child, Hospitalized ,Respiratory tract - Abstract
The importance of Chlamydia pneumoniae respiratory tract infection in childhood is under discussion. 798 hospitalized children with respiratory tract diseases were prospectively studied during a 2-year period by polymerase chain reaction and enzyme immunoassay (PCR-EIA) detection from throat swabs. Paired serum samples were used to screen for Chlamydia antibodies. C. pneumoniae was detected by PCR-EIA in 74 children. Prevalence was 11% in lower and 4% in upper respiratory tract disease (p = 0.049) without age dependency. From November to February prevalence was elevated (42/277 vs. 32/521; p < 0.001). Using serology, prevalence of acute Chlamydia infection increased with age (p < 0.001) and the number of coinfections (p < 0.001), without seasonal variation. Characteristics of C. pneumoniae carriage in the respiratory tract in childhood differ from those in systemic infection.
- Published
- 2003
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