Acute lower respiratory tract infection due to Chlamydia and Mycoplasma spp. in Egyptian children under 5 years of age

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) continue to threaten the health of children worldwide contributing to nearly 1.9 million children's deaths yearly [1]. Therapy is largely empiric because of the inability to determine the causative micro-organisms in most patients by the time treatment is initiated [2]. Chlamydophila and Mycoplasma cause atypical LRTIs that require adding a macrolide to recommended amoxicillin therapy [3]. However, despite the increasing pathogenic significance of Chlamydophila and Mycoplasma, progress in fighting them is hampered by the lack of rapid and standardized diagnostic methods [4]. The aim of the present study is to detect the contribution of Chlamydophila and Mycoplasma spp. in acute LRTIs in infants and children below 5 years of age. One hundred and eleven patients, presenting with acute LRTIs, below 5 years of age were recruited from the emergency department of Cairo University Pediatric Hospitals between December 2006 and May 2007. Following informed parental consent, patients were subjected to focused history taking, clinical examination and collection of blood samples for serological testing for antibodies to Chlamydia and Mycoplasma.