Pneumonia
Conditions
Keywords
pneumonia, community-acquired, polymerase chain reaction, pneumococcus, mycoplasma, chlamydophila, anti-bacterial agents
Brief summary
Pneumonia, or lung infection, is usually treated with antibiotics targeted against the organisms that the physician guesses are causing the problem. The determination of the exact cause of a patient's pneumonia is difficult. The problem is that the two major causes of community-acquired pneumonia are not easily distinguished on clinical grounds and are best treated by different antibiotics. The investigators hypothesize that antibiotic therapy can be targeted and improved by doing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of nose swabs to identify probable implicated organisms and their antibiotic resistance patterns. This pilot study will be important to ensure that the laboratory testing is functional and that the emergency department-laboratory communication is optimal prior to doing a full-fledged randomized clinical trial.
Interventions
PROCEDUREnasopharyngeal swab
PCR of NP swab for Mycoplasma, Chlamydophila, pneumococcus, pneumococcus macrolide resistance genes.
Sponsors
The Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Study design
Observational model
ECOLOGIC_OR_COMMUNITY
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
180 Days to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* presumed community-acquired pneumonia as diagnosed by the attending emergency department physician
Exclusion criteria
* age \> 6 months * immunodeficiency (primary, advanced HIV) * cystic fibrosis * malignancy * known cardiac or lung defects * bronchiectasis * previous pneumonia or lung abscess in past 6 months * conditions requiring treatment with immune suppressants
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed