All issues > Volume 33(1); 1990

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1990;33(1):51-58. Published online January 31, 1990.

Clinical Strudy of chlamydial Pneumonia in Early Infants.

Mi Kyung Kim¹, Young Mi Hong¹, Seung Joo Lee¹, Keun Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

Received: August 16, 1989;  Accepted: October 23, 1989.

Abstract

We studied Chlamydiazyme test in 55 infants below 6 months of age with lower respiratory tract infection, admitted to the Pediatric ward of Ewha Womans University Hospital, between October 1, 1987 and February 28, 1989. The results were as follows. 1. The overall incidence of Chlamydial pneumonia was 14,5% (8/55). All of them were below 2 months of age, so the incidence in infants below 2 months of age was 22,5% (8/36). 2. Clinical characteristics of Chlamydial pneumonia. 1) Among the 8 infants with Chlamydial pneumonia, seven were delivered vaginally and one was by Cesarean section after spontaneous rupture of membrane 72 hours prior to delivery, so all Chlamydial pneumonia were considered to be infected from birth canal. Prematurity was 25%, which was not significant. 2) Staccato cough was the only significant symptom in Chlamydial pneumonia (p<0.05). History of conjunctivitis was significantly high (75%) in Chlamydial pneumonia (p<0.05). 3) Eosinophilia was noted in 62.5% of Chlamydial neumonia, which is significant (p<0.05). 4) Serum immunoglobulin M was increased to 198.6 ± 77.2 mg/dl, and the incidence above 110 mg/dl was significantly high in 87.5% (p<0.05). Serum immunoglobulin G was not significant. 5) Diffuse interstitial infiltration with hyperaeration was the significant characteristic chest X -ray findings (62.5%) in Chlamydial pneumonia (p<0.05). 6) The onset of clinical improvement of Chlamydial pneumonia after oral erythromycin was not different from that of non-Chlamydial pneumonia group with supportive therapy, which suggested the effect on erythromycin in Chlamydial pneumonia.

Keywords :Chlamydial pneumonia