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Community‐acquired Moraxella catarrhalis pneumonia in previously healthy children
Author(s) -
Sy Magdalena G.,
Robinson Joan L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
pediatric pulmonology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.866
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1099-0496
pISSN - 8755-6863
DOI - 10.1002/ppul.21243
Subject(s) - moraxella catarrhalis , medicine , pneumonia , community acquired pneumonia , moraxella (branhamella) catarrhalis , sputum , sputum culture , moraxella , bacteremia , pediatrics , immunology , haemophilus influenzae , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , antibiotics , tuberculosis , biology , genetics , bacteria
Background The aim of this study was to determine if Moraxella catarrhalis is a common cause of community acquired pneumonia in children with no chronic medical problems. A secondary goal was to describe the clinical features of children with M. catarrhalis pneumonia. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted for (i) case series of pediatric community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) where one or more diagnostic tests for M. catarrhalis were applied to all cases and (ii) case reports of previously healthy children with proven M. catarrhalis pneumonia. Results There were nine case series describing a total of 1,500 children with CAP. The number of children tested and yield was as follows: blood cultures 0/402 (0%); sputum cultures 15/157 (10%); nasopharyngeal, or postnasal cultures 129/521 (25%); sputum or nasopharyngeal cultures 0/74 (0%) (one study allowed either); nucleic acid amplification testing 2/100 (2%); serology 30/976 (3%). There were eight case reports of CAP with M. catarrhalis in previously well children. Children were ages 3 weeks to 7 years of age (median 14 months). Six of 8 (75%) children required mechanical ventilation. All survived. Conclusion It is common to detect M. catarrhalis in upper respiratory secretions in children with pneumonia, but bacteremia or seroconversion is rare. There are only eight well‐documented case reports CAP due to M. catarrhalis in previously well children, with there being no distinctive features in the eight cases described to date. This organism is likely a rare cause of CAP in previously healthy children. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2010; 45:674–678. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.