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High frequency of Chlamydia pneumoniae and risk factors in children with acute respiratory infection

  • Clinical Microbiology - Research Paper
  • Published:
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Abstract

This study was performed as a contribution for a better understanding of Chlamydia pneumoniae frequency in children with respiratory infections. A total of 416 children were recruited from two clinical centers in Sao Luis, Brazil. Of these patients, 165 children had upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), 150 had community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), and 101 were asymptomatic volunteer children. Clinical and epidemiological data from the participants were recorded. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected to extract DNA. C. pneumoniae DNA positivity and copy numbers were obtained by an absolute quantitative real-time PCR method.

Results

Positivity for C. pneumoniae DNA was higher in samples from URTI children (38.2%) and from CAP children (18.0%) than in those from the control group (7.9%; p < 0.001). Moreover, C. pneumoniae DNA was denser in children with URTI than in asymptomatic children. Considering the cutoff, the highest value of C. pneumoniae DNA found in asymptomatic children of the 3.98 log10 copies/mL, 8.5% (14/165) of the children with URTI, and 3.3% (5/150) with CAP presented high copy numbers of C. pneumoniae DNA.

Conclusion

Taken together, these results revealed a high frequency of C. pneumoniae in both children with URTI and CAP.

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Funding

This study was supported by grants from the Ministério da Saúde-CNPq-FAPEMA, Brazil (#PPSUS-03384/13). LGLN, MSA, ESAS, KKPF, and MSC are recipients of fellowships from Fundação de Amparo à pesquisa do Estado do Maranhão (FAPEMA), and MHH and RDCH are recipients of fellowships from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação, Universidade CEUMA, Rua dos Castanheiros, no. 1, Renascença II, Sao Luis, MA, 65075-120, Brazil

    Matheus Silva Alves, Marilha da Silva Cariolano, Hivylla Lorrana dos Santos Ferreira, Elen Sousa de Abreu Silva, Karen Karollynny Pereira Felipe, Silvio Gomes Monteiro, Eduardo Martins de Sousa, Afonso Gomes Abreu & Lidio Gonçalves Lima-Neto

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação da Rede BIONORTE, Sao Luis, Brazil

    Eduardo Martins de Sousa & Lidio Gonçalves Lima-Neto

  3. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, Sao Luis, MA, Brazil

    Afonso Gomes Abreu

  4. Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Lee Ann Campbell

  5. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Michael E. Rosenfeld

  6. Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

    Mario Hiroyuki Hirata & Rosario Dominguez Crespo Hirata

  7. Institute Dante Pazzanese of Cardiology, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Mario Hiroyuki Hirata & Gisele Medeiros Bastos

  8. Curso de Medicina, Universidade CEUMA, Sao Luis, MA, Brazil

    Ilana Cristina de Paula Abreu Silva

Authors
  1. Matheus Silva Alves
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  2. Marilha da Silva Cariolano
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  3. Hivylla Lorrana dos Santos Ferreira
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  6. Silvio Gomes Monteiro
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  7. Eduardo Martins de Sousa
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  9. Lee Ann Campbell
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  14. Ilana Cristina de Paula Abreu Silva
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  15. Lidio Gonçalves Lima-Neto
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Contributions

Each author has contributed significantly to this work. EMS, AGA, LAC, ICPAS, MER, MHH, and LGLN contributed to the conception and the design of the work. MSA, MSC, HLSF, ESAS, KKPF, EMS, AGA, GMB, and LGLN contributed to data acquisition and in performing the experiments. SGM, MHH, RDCH, and LGLN analyzed the data. LAC, MER, RDCH, GMB, and LGLN wrote the manuscript. AGA, LAC, MER, RDCH, GMB, and LGLN revised it critically for important intellectual content and final approval of the version to be published.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lidio Gonçalves Lima-Neto.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Ceuma University under the Certificate of Presentation for Ethical Consideration (CAAE #467.131) and was in compliance with the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from parents or caregivers prior to enrollment.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Elizabeth Andrade Marques.

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Alves, M.S., da Silva Cariolano, M., dos Santos Ferreira, H.L. et al. High frequency of Chlamydia pneumoniae and risk factors in children with acute respiratory infection. Braz J Microbiol 51, 629–636 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00229-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-020-00229-w

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