CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROBIOCENOSIS OF RESPIRATORY TRACT IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM COMMUNITY ACQUIRED PNEUMONIAS

Abstract

Management and interpretation of the results of microbiological diagnostics, as well as methodological issues of microbiological monitoring remain crucial issues of interest. The objective of the study was to evaluate efficiency of microbiological diagnostics of various types of biological material obtained from patients suffering from community-acquired pneumonia. Materials and methods: microbiological examination (cultural, molecular-diagnostic assays) of 60 children aged from 1 up to 7 years diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia confirmed with radiological methods that were undergoing treatment in clinics of Vladivostok was performed. Results: 53 cultures were obtained from 60 patients, among them S. pneumoniae was detected in 90.56% (48 strains), H. influenzae in 22.64% (12 strains) and S. aureus in 5.6% (3 strains) of the tested samples. Bacterial and viral coinfection was revealed in 19% of the samples. Should be noted, bacterial-bacterial associations were more prevalent and were found in 40% of the samples. Among them S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were detected in 21% of the samples. Interestingly, detection of solely viral pathogens totaled up to 2% and was extremely low compared to the estimates of children with nasopharyngeal carriage. Conclusions: Interpretation of the presence of these potentially pathogenic organisms in the lungs of children diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia confirmed with radiological methods remains challenging as pathogen detection alone cannot confirm causality. In this regard, we can gain greater insight and interpretation of clinical specimen studies with a growing understanding of the pulmonary microbiome using molecular diagnostic techniques.