Background: The majority of Chlamydophila pneumoniae infections are asymptomatic. Symptomatic infections due to C. pneumoniae are associated with upper and lower respiratory tract infections.
Objectives: Analysis of the frequency of C. pneumoniae antigens detection in children in the Lower Silesia Region in 2011.
Material and methods: 303 throat swabs obtained from 130 girls and 173 boys, aged 20 months to 18 years, were tested. The patients who were entered into the study were treated due to various respiratory disorders. Examinations were performed by IFA technique, using the Chlamydia Cell PN testing kits (Cellabs Pty Ltd., Sydney, Australia).
Results: The presence of C. pneumoniae antigen was detected in 95/303 (31.4%) of all examined children (in 48/130 (36.9%) of girls and in 47/173 (27.2%) of boys). In the group of patients with dry cough, as the most common presenting clinical symptom of respiratory infection, the positive IFA test results for C. pneumoniae occurred in 32 out of 94 (34.0%) of girls and in 34 out of 117 (29.1%) of boys. In the case of the examined children with other prevailing clinical symptom, which included a cough with discharge and a runny nose, the positive tests for C. pneumoniae were shown in 13 out of 27 (48.1%) of girls and in 9 out of 42 (21.4%) of boys. In the group of children without symptoms of infection, who had direct contact with C. pneumoniae infected person, there were 3 out of 9 (33.3%) of girls and 4 out of 14 (28.6%) of boys positively tested cases.
Conclusions: Results of IFA studies for C. pneumoniae in throat swabs in children varies according to clinical symptoms and seasonality. There were no clear gender and age-related differences. C. pneumoniae test should be considered only after the presence of microorganisms typical of respiratory infections has been excluded.