Background: The usefulness of sputum Gram stain in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is controversial. There has been no study to evaluate the diagnostic value of this method in patients with healthcare-associated pneumonia (HCAP). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of sputum Gram stain in etiological diagnosis and pathogen-targeted antibiotic treatment of CAP and HCAP.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study on hospitalized patients with pneumonia admitted to our hospital from August 2010 to July 2012. Before administering antibiotics on admission, Gram stain was performed and examined by trained physicians immediately after sputum samples were obtained. We analyzed the quality of sputum samples and the diagnostic performance of Gram stain. We also compared pathogen-targeted antibiotic treatment guided by sputum Gram stain with empirical treatment.
Results: Of 670 patients with pneumonia, 328 were CAP and 342 were HCAP. Sputum samples were obtained from 591 patients, of these 478 samples were good quality. The sensitivity and specificity of sputum Gram stain were 62.5% and 91.5% for Streptococcus pneumoniae, 60.9% and 95.1% for Haemophilus influenzae, 68.2% and 96.1% for Moraxella catarrhalis, 39.5% and 98.2% for Klebsiella pneumoniae, 22.2% and 99.8% for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 9.1% and 100% for Staphylococcus aureus. The diagnostic yield decreased in patients who had received antibiotics or patients with suspected aspiration pneumonia. Pathogen-targeted treatment provided similar efficacy with a decrease in adverse events compared to empirical treatment.
Conclusions: Sputum Gram stain is highly specific for the etiologic diagnosis and useful in guiding pathogen-targeted antibiotic treatment of CAP and HCAP.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287475 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-14-534 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Prevalence and Individualized Risk Factors of and Infections Among People Living with HIV (PLHIV) with Diarrhea in Ecuador: Insights from a Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study.
J Clin Med
January 2025
Universidad Estatal de Milagro, Milagro 091706, Ecuador.
: Microsporidia, particularly and , are emerging opportunistic pathogens that pose significant health risks to immunocompromised individuals, especially people living with HIV (PLHIV). Despite the global recognition of microsporidia's impact, there has been limited research on their prevalence and associated risk factors in Ecuador. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and identify risk factors associated with microsporidia infections among PLHIV with diarrhea in Ecuador.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial Diversity in Native Heart Valves in Infective Endocarditis.
Biomedicines
January 2025
Laboratory of Genome Medicine, Research Institute for Complex Issues of Cardiovascular Diseases, 650002 Kemerovo, Russia.
Infective endocarditis (IE) is an infectious disease caused by the hematogenous dissemination of bacteria into heart valves. Improving the identification of pathogens that cause IE is important to increase the effectiveness of its therapy and reduce the mortality caused by this pathology. Ten native heart valves obtained from IE patients undergoing heart valve replacements were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTurning Waste into Treasure: Functionalized Biomass-Derived Carbon Dots for Superselective Visualization and Eradication of Gram-Positive Bacteria.
Adv Sci (Weinh)
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Digital Medical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biomaterials and Devices, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, 2 Southeast University Road, Nanjing, 211189, P. R. China.
Gram-positive bacteria pose significant threats to human health, necessitating the development of targeted bacterial detection and eradication strategies. Nevertheless, current approaches often suffer from poor targeting specificity. Herein, the study utilizes purple rice lixivium to synthesize biomass carbon dots (termed BCDs) with wheat germ agglutinin-like residues for precisely targeting Gram-positive bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFsp. nov., Isolated from the Marine Sponge, , and Reclassification of as comb. nov.
J Microbiol Biotechnol
December 2024
Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Hannam University, Daejeon 34430, Republic of Korea.
A Gram-stain-negative, facultative anaerobic rods, designated as strain 219JJ12-13, was isolated from a marine sponge, , in Jeju-do, Republic of Korea. The cells displayed catalase and oxidase activity and were non-motile. Strain 219JJ12-13 grew at 10-37°C (optimum, 25-30°C), pH 6.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRobotic versus manual disinfection of global priority pathogens at COVID-19 dedicated hospitals.
Am J Infect Control
January 2025
Central Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal. Electronic address:
Background: Twelve bacterial families were identified as global priority pathogens by the World Health Organization in 2017, recognizing the greatest threat they pose to human health and the declining antibiotic efficacy. Robotics has emerged as a swift and contactless tool for disinfecting bacterial surface contamination in healthcare facilities, however, head-to-head comparison of disinfection efficacy of robotic versus manual disinfections is limited. This study aimed at comparing how robotic disinfection performs over manual disinfection against the global priority pathogens in the healthcare setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!