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Abstract
Background
Persistent cough has recently been found to be associated with Chlamydia pneumoniae infection. We aimed to investigate the infection rate of C. pneumonia in adult patients with chronic cough.
Methods
We recruited 68 patients with persistent cough lasting in excess of 3 weeks, who visited Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital from January 2005 to August 2005. On the first visit, chest and paranasal sinuses radiography, skin prick test of common allergens, and induced sputum samples for C. pneumoniae were performed in all of patients. Further evaluation for diagnosis included a methacholine provocation test and eosinophil counts in induced sputum.
Results
The most common cause of chronic cough was upper airway cough syndrome (UACS) (26.5%), followed by eosinophilic bronchitis (20.6%) and cough variant asthma (16.2%). Idiopathic chronic cough was the cause in 33.8% of patients. The mean duration of cough was 11.7 months. C. pneumoniae was isolated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from one patient who had upper respiratory air way syndrome.
Figures and Tables
Figure 1
Causes of chronic cough in patients coming to a clinic. This group of 68 patients had UACS, EB, CVA, Pos-inf and idiopathic chronic cough. Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA was detected in one patient (dark gray). UACS: upper airway cough syndrome; EB: eosinophillic bronchitis; CVA: cough variant asthma; Post-inf: post-infectious.
Figure 2
Agarose gel images of the amplification of C. pneumoniae DNA from patient sample (A). Samples were amplified by nested PCR using CP-1, CP-2 primer set and then CPC, CPD primer set. Lane 1: molecular size standards; lane 2: positive control; lane 3: positive sample from patient (207 bp); Lane 4: negative control. DNA sequencing results from the PCR product of the patient (B) and positive control (C) confirmed PCR product was cDNA of C. pneumoniae.
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