Table 2.
Bacterial etiology in BALF and NPS specimens
| Cultures with any bacterial load, % (95% CI) | Cultures meeting the cut-off for infectiona, % (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| BALF (N = 190) | NPS (N = 191) | BALF (N = 190) | |
| S. pneumoniae | 30.5 (24.1–37.6) | 51.8 (44.5–59.1) | 10.5 (6.5–15.8) |
| H. influenzae | 51.1 (43.7–58.4) | 46.6 (39.4–53.9) | 8.9 (5.3–13.9) |
| M. catarrhalis | 49.5 (42.2–56.8) | 56.0 (48.7–63.2) | 6.3 (3.3–10.8) |
| Any of the three | 74.2 (67.4–80.3) | 80.6 (74.3–86.0) | 22.1 (16.4–28.7) |
| Other pathogens | 6.3 | 3.7 | – |
%, percentage of children in each category; CI, confidence interval; N, number of children with available results; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; NPS, nasopharyngeal swab
aBacterial load > 104 CFU/mL if the pathogen was present alone or > 105 CFU/mL if present as co-infection