Antigen detection for rapid diagnosis of acute bacterial pneumonia in children

In a study carried out during the period from May to December 1997, blood and urine samples were collected from 100 children who had clinical manifestations and radiological evidences suggestive of pneumonia and were admitted to El-Shatby Children's University Hospital. Sputum samples were collected from 26 children, their ages ranged from 5-12 years, out of the examined cases, 65% were definitely diagnosed as bacterial pneumonia cases. S. aureus and St. pneumoniae were the most frequently isolated bacterial agents from blood and sputum cultures, 19.4% and 30.9% respectively. 38.3%, 30.7% and 30.9% of cases were diagnosed by Ag detection in urine, serum and sputum respectively by the latex agglutination test