[Changes in the microflora of the sputum and the bronchoalveolar fluid in patients with acute and protracted pneumonias].

A quantitative technique was used to microbiological study of sputum in 110 patients with acute pneumonia and 56 with advanced pneumonia, in 38 of them, their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was simultaneously examined. In acute pneumonia, Pneumococcus was most commonly (71.8%) cultured, frequently in combination with other microorganisms, mainly with Neisseria and Enterobacteriaceae. These patients were found to have higher pneumococcal cultivation rates (83.0%) in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Following 3 weeks of etiotropic therapy, the pneumococcal cultivation rates dropped to 10.8%. Pneumococcus also occupied the leading place (69.6%) in the etiology of advanced pneumonia, Mycoplasma pneumoniae was detected by the indirect immunofluorescence test in 28.5% of patients. After 3-week therapy, the cultivation rates for Pneumococcus decreased to 23.0%, its association with other microbes being more frequently observed. At the same time there was a rise in the detection rate of Mycoplasma antigen, which could cause advanced pneumonia.