%0 Journal Article
%T Incidence of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Using Urinary Antigen Test in Pneumonic Children Attending Suez Canal University Hospital
%J The Egyptian Journal Of Hospital Medicine
%I Pan Arab League of Continuous Medical Education
%X <strong>Background:</strong> Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main etiology of bacterial pneumonia and may additionally cause invasive infections such as meningitis and sepsis, as well as non-invasive ones like sinusitis and otitis media.
<strong>Aim:</strong> To enable early detection of pneumococcal pneumonia using urinary antigen test (UAT (as a non-invasive and rapid screening tool for better management.
<strong>Patients and methods:</strong> This prospective observational research has been carried out at the Pediatric Department and PICU of Suez Canal University Hospital. It included 110 children (1 month¨C5 years) who were admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
<strong>Results:</strong> Among 110 hospitalized children with CAP, 41 cases (37.3%) were tested positive and 69 cases (62.7%) were negative for S. pneumoniae using the UAT. This corresponds to an incidence of 373 cases per 1,000 CAP admissions during the 6-month study period. Fever, cyanosis, and prolonged capillary refill time were significantly more prevalent in UAT-positive patients (p-value below 0.05). All participants presented with tachypnea and cough as per WHO CAP criteria. UAT-positive cases had higher TLC, neutrophils, NLR, and CRP, with lower lymphocyte counts (p < 0.001). Lobar pneumonia was the predominant radiological finding in UAT-positive patients, while interstitial pneumonia, bronchopneumonia, and normal X-rays were more common in UAT-negative cases (p < 0.001). Among UAT-positive children, 70.7% were discharged, while 29.3% died.
<strong>Conclusion:</strong> S. pneumoniae was found in 37.3% of CAP cases using UAT ¡ª a quick and reliable tool that helps catch what cultures might miss and guides better treatment decisions.
%K Streptococcus pneumoniae
%K UAT
%K children
%K Incidence
%U https://ejhm.journals.ekb.eg/article_426723_438e22a197988039d9442b8fe8612dd1.pdf