Skip to main content
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1986 Feb 1;292(6516):314–317. doi: 10.1136/bmj.292.6516.314

Pneumonia associated with infection with pneumocystis, respiratory syncytial virus, chlamydia, mycoplasma, and cytomegalovirus in children in Papua New Guinea.

F Shann, S Walters, L L Pifer, D M Graham, I Jack, E Uren, D Birch, N D Stallman
PMCID: PMC1339284  PMID: 3002538

Abstract

Paired serum samples were collected from 94 children with pneumonia admitted to Goroka Hospital, Papua New Guinea. All but three of the children were aged 1-24 months. Only nine children were malnourished, with weight for age less than 70% of the Harvard median (three had weight for age less than 60% of the Harvard median). Pneumocystis carinii antigen was detected in the serum of 23 children. Twenty two children had serological evidence of recent infection with respiratory syncytial virus. Five children were probably infected with Chlamydia trachomatis at the time of the study, and there was less convincing serological evidence of current infection in a further 11 children. Five children showed a fourfold rise in antibody to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Although only one child showed a fourfold rise in antibody to cytomegalovirus, 86 children had this antibody. No child showed a fourfold rise in antibody to Ureaplasma urealyticum or Legionella pneumophila. P carinii, respiratory syncytial virus, C trachomatis, M pneumoniae, and cytomegalovirus may be important causes of pneumonia in children in developing countries.

Full text

PDF
317

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersen R. D., Lauer B. A., Fraser D. W., Hayes P. S., McIntosh K. Infections with Legionella pneumophila in children. J Infect Dis. 1981 Mar;143(3):386–390. doi: 10.1093/infdis/143.3.386. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beem M. O., Saxon E. M. Respiratory-tract colonization and a distinctive pneumonia syndrome in infants infected with Chlamydia trachomatis. N Engl J Med. 1977 Feb 10;296(6):306–310. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197702102960604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Carney W. P., Hirsch M. S. Mechanisms of immunosuppression in cytomegalovirus mononucleosis. II. Virus-monocyte interactions. J Infect Dis. 1981 Jul;144(1):47–54. doi: 10.1093/infdis/144.1.47. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chretien J., Holland W., Macklem P., Murray J., Woolcock A. Acute respiratory infections in children. A global public-health problem. N Engl J Med. 1984 Apr 12;310(15):982–984. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198404123101509. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dworsky M. E., Stagno S. Newer agents causing pneumonitis in early infancy. Pediatr Infect Dis. 1982 May-Jun;1(3):188–195. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198205000-00014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gwatkin D. R. How many die? A set of demographic estimates of the annual number of infant and child deaths in the world. Am J Public Health. 1980 Dec;70(12):1286–1289. doi: 10.2105/ajph.70.12.1286. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Orenstein W. A., Overturf G. D., Leedom J. M., Alvarado R., Geffner M., Fryer A., Chan L., Haynes V., Starc T., Portnoy B. The frequency of Legionella infection prospectively determined in children hospitalized with pneumonia. J Pediatr. 1981 Sep;99(3):403–406. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(81)80327-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Pifer L. L., Hughes W. T., Murphy M. J., Jr Propagation of Pneumocystis carinii in vitro. Pediatr Res. 1977 Apr;11(4):305–316. doi: 10.1203/00006450-197704000-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Pifer L. L., Hughes W. T., Stagno S., Woods D. Pneumocystis carinii infection: evidence for high prevalence in normal and immunosuppressed children. Pediatrics. 1978 Jan;61(1):35–41. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Pifer L. L. Pneumocystis carinii: a diagnostic dilemma. Pediatr Infect Dis. 1983 May-Jun;2(3):177–183. doi: 10.1097/00006454-198305000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Shann F., Gratten M., Germer S., Linnemann V., Hazlett D., Payne R. Aetiology of pneumonia in children in Goroka Hospital, Papua New Guinea. Lancet. 1984 Sep 8;2(8402):537–541. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(84)90764-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Shann F., Hart K., Thomas D. Acute lower respiratory tract infections in children: possible criteria for selection of patients for antibiotic therapy and hospital admission. Bull World Health Organ. 1984;62(5):749–753. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Slotkin R. I., Clyde W. A., Jr, Denny F. W. The effect of antibiotics on Mycoplasma pneumoniae in vitro and in vivo. Am J Epidemiol. 1967 Jul;86(1):225–237. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120727. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Stagno S., Brasfield D. M., Brown M. B., Cassell G. H., Pifer L. L., Whitley R. J., Tiller R. E. Infant pneumonitis associated with cytomegalovirus, Chlamydia, Pneumocystis, and Ureaplasma: a prospective study. Pediatrics. 1981 Sep;68(3):322–329. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Treharne J. D., Forsey T., Thomas B. J. Chlamydial serology. Br Med Bull. 1983 Apr;39(2):194–200. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a071815. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Wang S. P., Grayston J. T. Immunologic relationship between genital TRIC, lymphogranuloma venereum, and related organisms in a new microtiter indirect immunofluorescence test. Am J Ophthalmol. 1970 Sep;70(3):367–374. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(70)90096-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Whitley R. J., Brasfield D., Reynolds D. W., Stagno S., Tiller R. E., Alford C. A. Protracted pneumonitis in young infants associated with perinatally acquired cytomegaloviral infection. J Pediatr. 1976 Jul;89(1):16–22. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(76)80919-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wiley C. A., Quinn P. A. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of specific antibodies to Ureaplasma urealyticum serotypes. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Mar;19(3):421–426. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.3.421-426.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Williams A. L., Uren E. C., Bretherton L. Respiratory viruses and sudden infant death. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 May 19;288(6429):1491–1493. doi: 10.1136/bmj.288.6429.1491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES