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. 2015 Dec;83(4):400-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2015.08.001. Epub 2015 Aug 5.

The clinical impact of the detection of potential etiologic pathogens of community-acquired pneumonia

Gita Gelfer  1 , James Leggett  1 , Jillian Myers  1 , Luan Wang  1 , David N Gilbert  2
Affiliations

The clinical impact of the detection of potential etiologic pathogens of community-acquired pneumonia

Gita Gelfer et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

The etiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is determined in less than half of the patients based on cultures of sputum and blood plus testing urine for the antigens of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila. This study added nasal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) probes for S. pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and respiratory viruses. Serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels were measured. Pathogens were identified in 78% of the patients. For detection of viruses, patients were randomized to either a 5-virus laboratory-generated PCR bundle or the 17-virus FilmArray PCR platform. The FilmArray PCR platform detected more viruses than the laboratory-generated bundle and did so in less than 2 hours. There were fewer days of antibiotic therapy, P = 0.003, in CAP patients with viral infections and a low serum PCT levels.

Keywords: Community-acquired pneumonia; Diagnostic bundles; FilmArray; Molecular diagnostics; Procalcitonin.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Screening, eligibility, and enrollment of hospitalized adults with CAP.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Box plot of PCT values in patients with CAP caused by a virus, a bacterium, or a combination of a virus and a bacterium. The PCT values in patients with bacterial pneumonia (bacteria alone plus bacteria combined with a virus) versus virus alone is highly significant; P < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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