Insights Into Pneumococcal Pneumonia Using Lung Aspirates and Nasopharyngeal Swabs Collected From Pneumonia Patients in The Gambia.
case_series · Level IV
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32319524.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1093/infdis/jiaa186 and PMC identifier 9016440.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
We investigated the pathogenesis of pneumococcal pneumonia using clinical specimens collected for pneumonia surveillance in The Gambia. Lung aspirates and nasopharyngeal swabs from 31 patients were examined by culture, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), whole genome sequencing, serotyping, and reverse-transcription qPCR. Five lung aspirates cultured pneumococci, with a matching strain identified in the nasopharynx. Three virulence genes including ply (pneumolysin) were upregulated >20-fold in the lung compared with the nasopharynx. Nasopharyngeal pneumococcal density was higher in pediatric pneumonia patients compared with controls (P < .0001). Findings suggest that changes in pneumococcal gene expression occurring in the lung environment may be important in pathogenesis.
Medical subject headings
- Pneumococcal Infections
- Pneumonia, Pneumococcal