RESUMO
One hundred and five patients with signs and symptoms of acute lower respiratory tract infection were investigated in a prospective study over a period of 1 year. Potential bacterial pathogens were isolated from the sputum of 27% of patients with productive cough; Haemophilus influenzae was the most frequent organism found in 19% of sputum specimens. Antibiotics had already been prescribed for 36-4% of the 66 patients whose urine was examined for antibacterial activity. Appropriate convalescent serum was obtained from 33 patients only, because of lack of compliance. This resulted in detecting two cases of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, and two of adenovirus infections. The total leucocyte count in the blood was not helpful in the diagnosis except in the case of leucopenia where it was associated with a negative sputum culture