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 6,990 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A prospective study of community acquired lower respiratory tract infection in the elderly was carried out over a 15-month period. During this time 127 consecutive admissions to two acute geriatric medical wards were studied. An aetiology was established in 77 (61%) of cases. Streptococcus pneumoniae was identified in 37% of patients. Haemophilus influenzae in 18% and Branhamella catarrhalis in 10%. Infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae was found in only one episode and no cases of Legionella pneumophilia were diagnosed. A significant number of patients had multiple bacterial pathogens isolated: 18% of all bacterial pathogens isolated were ampicillin resistant. Fourteen patients died (11%). Lower respiratory tract infection is a frequent cause of hospital admission for those aged over 65 and is often regarded as a preterminal event. Adequately treated however, mortality is no higher than in the general population. Knowledge of the likely pathogens allows early and appropriate antibiotic therapy for these patients whether at home or on admission to hospital.
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PMID:Prospective hospital study of community acquired lower respiratory tract infection in the elderly. 190 44

Sera from 1384 individuals were examined with a trivalent antigen composed of Legionella longbeachae serogroups 1 and 2 and L. jordanis. One hundred and twenty nine (9.3%) showed a reaction on screening. Thirty-six (2.6%) had a titre of greater than or equal to 64 with monovalent antigens. Ten (0.7%) had a high (greater than or equal to 256) or greater than or equal to fourfold rising titre of antibody to one or more antigens and six of these patients had a severe chest infection. No correlation was apparent between the presence of low level antibodies and disease.
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PMID:Experience with heat-killed antigens of L. longbeachae serogroups 1 and 2, and L. jordanis in the indirect fluorescence antibody test. 635 12

An acute interstitial nephritis was found in a patient with sudden renal failure and lung infection caused by Legionella pneumophilia. Our patient regained and maintained normal renal function after a short period of dialysis support. The diagnosis should be considered in any patient with a chest infection complicated by acute renal failure especially if confusion is disproportionate to the degree of uremia.
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PMID:Acute interstitial nephritis complicating Legionnaires' Disease. 723 71

This document updates and replaces CDC's previously published "Guideline for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia" (Infect Control 1982;3:327-33, Respir Care 1983;28:221-32, and Am J Infect Control 1983;11:230-44). This revised guideline is designed to reduce the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia and is intended for use by personnel who are responsible for surveillance and control of infections in acute-care hospitals; the information may not be applicable in long-term-care facilities because of the unique characteristics of such settings. This revised guideline addresses common problems encountered by infection-control practitioners regarding the prevention and control of nosocomial pneumonia in U.S. hospitals. Sections on the prevention of bacterial pneumonia in mechanically ventilated and/or critically ill patients, care of respiratory-therapy devices, prevention of cross-contamination, and prevention of viral lower respiratory tract infections (e.g., respiratory syncytial virus [RSV] and influenza infections) have been expanded and updated. New sections on Legionnaires disease and pneumonia caused by Aspergillus sp. have been included. Lower respiratory tract infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is not addressed in this document. Part I, "An Overview of the Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia, 1994, provides the background information for the consensus recommendations of the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) in Part II, Recommendations for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia." Pneumonia is the second most common nosocomial infection in the United States and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Most patients who have nosocomial pneumonia are infants, young children, and persons > 65 years of age; persons who have severe underlying disease, immunosuppression, depressed sensorium, and/or cardiopulmonary disease and persons who have had thoracoabdominal surgery. Although patients receiving mechanically assisted ventilation do not represent a major proportion of patients who have nosocomial pneumonia, they are at highest risk for acquiring the infection. Most bacterial nosocomial pneumonias occur by aspiration of bacteria colonizing the oropharynx or upper gastrointestinal tract of the patient. Because intubation and mechanical ventilation alter first-line patient defenses, they greatly increase the risk for nosocomial bacterial pneumonia. Pneumonias caused by Legionella sp., Aspergillus sp., and influenza virus are often caused by inhalation of contaminated aerosols. RSV infection usually occurs after viral inoculation of the conjunctivae or nasal mucosa by contaminated hands. Traditional preventive measures for nosocomial pneumonia include decreasing aspiration by the patient, preventing cross-contamination or colonization via hands of personnel, appropriate disinfection or sterilization of respiratory-therapy devices, use of available vaccines to protect against particular infections, and education of hospital staff and patients. New measures being investigated involve reducing oropharyngeal and gastric colonization by pathogenic microorganisms.
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PMID:Guidelines for prevention of nosocomial pneumonia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 903 4

Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is one of the major health problems in developing countries such as Indonesia. According to the National Household Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health in 1992, LRTIs still rank fourth as the main cause of death in Indonesia. The problem of LRTIs could be simply managed as long as the causative organism can be identified and the proper antibiotic known. In some occasions, it is not quite so easy to identify the causative micro-organism, especially in lower tract infections. There are several methods of obtaining specimens from LRTIs for cultures. The easiest, most simple way is to collect expectorated sputum. Unfortunately, because of the high rate of contamination by upper respiratory tract flora, this method is not reliable. Recognizing the difficulties with routine expectorated sputum cultures, two alternative approaches have been suggested. One approach is to bypass potential expectorated sputum 'contaminants' in the oropharynx by transtracheal aspiration or transthoracic aspiration. The second approach is to modify the usual technique of processing expectorated sputum by either washing techniques or by quantitative cultures. Azithromycin and clarithromycin are chemically related to macrolide erithromycin. Both antibiotics retain the traditional macrolide spectrum of activity against gram-positive and atypical pneumonia pathogens, while demonstrating improved activity against gram-negative bacteria. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommended the use of macrolide for outpatients with community-acquired pneumonia, without comorbidity and 60 years of age or younger. A total of 34 outpatients with acute LRTIs were open-comparative, randomly allocated to treatment with the new macrolide in Persahabatan Hospital, Jakarta, 1996. The purposes of this study were: (i) to identify the causative micro-organisms; and (ii) to evaluate the clinical efficacy of the new macrolide in these infections. Azithromycin 500 mg was given orally once a day for 3 days and was administered 1 h before or 2 h after every meal. Clarithromycin 500 mg was given orally every 12 h for 10 days. The diagnosis of the patients were: 16 with pneumonia, 10 with acute bronchitis and 8 with acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. In this study of 34 patients, the sputum specimens were washed with N acetylcysteine before culture and we could only detect micro-organisms in one patient. Before treatment, we found 47 strains in 33 (97.05%) patients and after treatment we found five strains. From serological examination, only four (11.76%) atypical bacterial were detected. The most frequently found microorganisms were 23 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae (40.42%), 10 of Streptococcus alpha haemolyticus (21.26%), five of Streptococcus pneumoniae (10.63%) and five of Staphylococcus aureus (10.63%). The atypical bacterial were: two Legionella pneumophila, one Mycoplasma pneumoniae and one Chlamydia pneumoniae. The clinical efficacy of new macrolides were 100% and the bacteriological responses with eradication of 94.12% vs 70.59% of isolates in the azithromycin and clarithromycin groups are shown in Table 1. There were no adverse reactions detected in the two treatment groups until the end of the study.
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PMID:The pattern of micro-organisms and the efficacy of new macrolide in acute lower respiratory tract infections. 969 20

After a worker from a plastics factory was diagnosed with legionella pneumonia it was learnt that a retired employee at the factory had been in hospital with a serious chest infection six months before and legionella pneumonia was diagnosed in retrospect from stored serum. The likeliest common source was a machine cooling system that took water from an uncovered water tank outdoors (from which Legionella pneumophila was isolated) and which generated an aerosol through a crack in the flow meter sight glass.
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PMID:Legionella pneumonia from a novel industrial aerosol. 1059 91

Lower respiratory tract infections are the major cause of death due to infectious disease in the developed and developing world. Despite substantial progress in defining pathogens and in therapeutic options, there continues to be major controversies in the clinical management of these infections. This report reviews the guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), updated from the initial publication. Diagnosis should include a chest X-ray to differentiate acute bronchitis from pneumonia. The decision for hospitalization should be based on social factors and evaluation of severity of illness. Identification of an etiological agent for inpatients should include two pretreatment cultures, one pretreatment sputum specimen, with seriously ill patients requiring studies for Legionella spp. Recommendations for empiric treatment of outpatients are doxycycline, a macrolide or a fluoroquinolone. Recommendations for empiric treatment of hospitalized patients are a cephalosporin plus a macrolide, or a fluoroquinolone alone. Recommendations for ICU patients are a beta-lactam combined with either a macrolide or a fluoroquinolone. While concern has arisen about increasing resistance to fluoroquinolones, arguments in favor of these agents include the fact that they have good in vitro activity against nearly all treatable pathogens except some anaerobes. Clinical trials have shown equivalence or superiority compared to other standard agents. They are well tolerated, and can be administered intravenously or orally, once daily. A recent retrospective review has shown superior outcome with fluoroquinolone treatment compared to cephalosporins, including a 36% reduction in mortality.
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PMID:Treatment of community-acquired pneumonia. 1081 Feb 10

Lower respiratory tract infection and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) are very common, but the etiology is not diagnosed in routine practice. The objective of this study was to determine and compare the frequency distribution of the various infectious etiologies for these diseases. One hundred seventy five adults in the community with febrile LRTI and 75 with febrile URTI were included in a purely serologically based prospective study. Paired sera were obtained for each of the patients and were tested by EIA or immunofluorescence methods to identify 14 different pathogens. Only a significant change in antibody titers between the paired sera was considered diagnostic. At least one infectious etiology was identified in 167 patients (67%). In the LRTI group, infection with at least one of 7 respiratory viruses was found in 88 patients (50%). One of the atypical pathogens was found in 40 patients (23%), of these Legionella spp. in 19 (11%) and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in 18 (10%). A bacterial etiology was found in 19 patients (11%), of these Streptococcus pneumoniae in 8 (5%) and beta-hemolytic streptococci group A in 5 (3%). The frequency distribution of etiologies in the URTI group was not significantly different from the LRTI group, except for M. pneumoniae that was identified in only one patient with URTI (p = 0.015). More than one etiologic agent was found in 42 (17%) of the patients. LRTI is caused by a broad spectrum of etiologies, with respiratory viruses predominating and a moderate, but significant, prevalence of atypical pathogens. The frequency distribution of etiologies for URTI is similar to LRTI. In a significant proportion of patients with URTI and LRTI there is serologic evidence of infection with more than one pathogen. The justification and benefit of distinguishing between URTI and LRTI in routine clinical work is doubtful. When a decision is reached to treat RTI patients with an antibiotic, it is logical to use a macrolide or tetracycline.
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PMID:A comparative study of the etiology of adult upper and lower respiratory tract infections in the community. 1182 Nov 67

A double-blind placebo-controlled trial reported the benefit of erythromycin in treating pityriasis rosea (PR), a postulated mechanism being the eradication of bacteria susceptible to erythromycin. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PR and Chlamydia pneumoniae, C. trachomatis, Legionella longbeachae, L. micdadei, L. pneumophila, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections. We recruited 13 patients aged seven to 46 years (mean: 26.8 years) diagnosed to have PR in a primary care setting in 18 months. Lesional histopathology was arranged for atypical cases. Clotted blood was collected at initial presentation and four weeks later. Controls were 13 paired age-and-sex-matched patients requiring blood collection for non-dermatological diseases. Serology tests were performed in parallel but were read "blinded" on the acute and convalescent specimens of patients and the control subjects. The serology profiles were not diagnostic of active infection by any of the bacteria studied for all 13 patients. Two patients had four-fold increase in IgG titres against C. pneumoniae, with IgM being negative. Two patients had IgM detectable against L. pneumophila serotype 6 and M. pneumoniae respectively, with no significant rise of the specific IgG. These patients had no symptom or sign of chest infection. The seroprevalence and IgG titres of the study patients for the bacteria investigated were insignificantly different from those of control subjects. We conclude that the bacteria investigated in this study do not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of PR. We believe that anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatary effects might contribute towards the action of erythromycin, if any, in PR.
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PMID:Prospective case-control study of chlamydia, legionella and mycoplasma infections in patients with pityriasis rosea. 1187 16

A 43-year-old previously healthy solicitor presented with a 9-day history of cough productive of yellow sputum with a prodrome of sore throat and myalgia. The cough was paroxysmal in nature and severe enough to cause extensive bilateral subconjunctival haemorrhages and cough syncopes multiple times a day, with one bout of associated haematemesis on the day of admission. He was isolated, treated for a presumed atypical chest infection with tazocin and clarithromycin, and monitored carefully until the hyponatraemia on presentation was resolved. Atypical screen and blood cultures were sent off, though unexciting at first, eventually confirmed the unlikely; Bordetella pertussis, much to the surprise of many who had Legionella as the top differential.
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PMID:Haemorrhage, hyponatraemia and more than just a hack. 2494 39


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