Diagnosis methods for pneumococcal etiology determination in lower respiratory tract infections.

A comparative study of etiological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI), by conventional bacteriological methods and by pneumococcal antigen direct detection in sputum was performed. This work followed the establishing of rapid methods place, respectively of coagglutination (CoA), counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIE), within the methodology of bacteriological diagnosis in lower respiratory tract infections presenting pneumococcal etiology. The results of investigations performed on 84 sputa from LRTI patients proved the utility of CoA method in determining a rapid etiological diagnosis, important for applying an emergence targetted antibiotherapy. CoA method, with the reagents in use, covering only 10 out of 83 serological types of S. pneumoniae in not capable of replacing conventional methods of bacteriological diagnosis; they complete each other, increasing the efficiency of etiological diagnosis in LRTI. CIE method is less sensitive and more difficult to perform, being less useful in rapid etiological diagnosis of LRTI.