[Etiology of acute and chronic bronchopulmonary diseases in children. I. The results of a bacteriological and immunological study].

The bacteriological study of tracheal aspirate, sputum and bronchial washings obtained from 130 children with acute pneumonia and pleuritis and from 186 children with chronic pneumonia was carried out. In the samples of pleural exudate, urine and blood serum from the patients with acute pneumonia and pleuritis the presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae antigens was determined by the method of countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis (CIE). S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were found to be of different importance in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic bronchopulmonary diseases in children. In acute pneumonia and pleuritis in children who had not been treated with antibiotics pneumococci were isolated in 65.9% of cases and H. influenzae, in 20.4% of cases. In children with chronic pneumonia at the period of exacerbation H. influenzae dominated in the microflora (79%), while pneumococci were isolated 31.9% of cases. The use of CIE permitted the detection of pneumococcal antigen in 21.8% of those exudate samples which had shown no bacterial growth after inoculation. H. influenzae antigen was detected in pleural exudate in 5.4% of cases. In concentrated urine obtained from the children with acute pneumonia and pleuritis pneumococcal antigen was detected in samples from 29.6% of patients, and in nonconcentrated urine the occurrence of this antigen was reduced by half.