Table 4.
Pathogen detection
| Organism | Pulmonary specimen (usual) | Microscopy (stain) | Culturea | Serology | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteria | |||||
| Aerobes | Sputum, bronch, blood | Gram | Conventional | — | S pneumoniae urinary Ag |
| Anaerobes | TTA, pleural fluid | Gram | Anaerobic media | — | — |
| Legionella spp | Sputum, bronch blood | FA (L pneumophila) | Selective media | IFA | Urinary Ag: L pneumoniae SG#1 Respiratory secretions: PCR: L pneumoniae (all serotypes) |
| C pneumoniae | NPS, sputum, bronch | — | (Cell culture) | CF: C psittaci MIF: C pneumoniae | PCR (experimental) |
| M pneumoniae | NPS, sputum | — | (Culture) | CF, EIA | PCR (experimental) |
| Mycobacteria | Sputum, bronch | AFB | Selective media | — | PCR |
| Viruses | |||||
| Influenza | NPS or aspirate | FA | (Cell culture) | CF, EIA, FA, LA | Rapid Ag detection |
| RSV | NPS | FA (pediatric only) | (Cell culture) | — | — |
| Paraflu | NPS | — | (Cell culture) | — | — |
| SARS | NPS | — | (Cell culture) | — | PCR (experimental) |
Abbreviations: AFB, acid-fast stain; Ag, antigen; bronch, bronchoscopy aspirate or BAL; CF, complement fixation; EIA, enzyme immunoassay; FA, fluorescent antibody; IFA, immunofluorescence assay; LA, latex agglutination; MIF, microimmunofluorescence assay; NPS, nasopharyngeal swab; SG, serogroup.
a
Entries in parentheses are not usually available.