Bacteria and Serologic Reactions against Bacteria in Patients Hospitalized with Acute Respiratory Illness

AbstractDuring 1963–1967 a study was undertaken of 1128 patients hospitalized with acute respiratory illness (cases of scarlet fever excluded). Pneumonia was diagnosed in 53%. Bacterial cultures were made on each of the first 3 days from nose, nasopharynx, and throat swabs, and sputum. Tests for antistreptolysin, antistaphylolysin, antipneumolysin, and complement fixing antibody against H. influenzae were performed on acute and convalescent serum samples. A number of complement fixation tests against respiratory viruses, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Bedsonia agent were also carried out. By repetition of cultures it was found that: 1) single throat swabs gave positive results in less than half the patients harbouring streptococci; 2) nasal swabs were the best material for finding S. aureus but single samples even from all the localities mentioned above revealed less than half the patients from whom staphylococci were isolated; 3) sputum was the best material for recovering pneumococci but, in spite of the 3 ...