Journal List > Korean J Clin Microbiol > v.13(1) > 1038195

Kim, Koh, Kim, Maeng, and Jung: Investigation of Positive Streptococcus pneumoniae Urinary Antigen Test Results in a Korean University Hospital

Abstract

Background

The Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen test (SPUAT) (Binax Now, USA) was developed for detecting polysaccharide C in urine samples for rapid diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia, the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). To validate positive results of these tests, we retrospectively investigated all positive results obtained from the emergency room of a Korean university hospital among patients with suspected CAP.

Methods

One hundred twenty-three positive SPUAT results were abstracted and analyzed from the authors' laboratory information system among the SPUAT results performed from 1,143 pneumonic patients admitted from the emergency room of a university hospital between 2007 and 2008. Medical records, including conventional microbiologic analysis results, were reviewed in detail for all positive test results.

Results

Among 123 patients with the positive SPUAT results, 24 patients were excluded due to hospitalization history during the preceding month. Nine of 99 patients (9.1%) with suspected CAP had confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia upon conventional sputum or blood culture. Thirty-five positive results (35.4%) showed other microorganisms upon conventional methods, which might be due to possible cross-reactivity. Among those, 23 positive results were considered bacterial pneumonic agents, and 12 positive results were regarded as urinary tract infection strains or contaminating agents. Fifty-five positive SPUAT results (55.6%) showed negative conventional microbiologic growth, and some positive SPUAT results might be caused by true pneumococcal infection although without cultural evidence.

Conclusion

Our retrospective study demonstrated that a positive SPUAT result typically does not agree well with conventional culture methods, suggesting that the value of a positive SPUAT result in etiology determination may be limited under practical conditions in a university hospital.

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Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of community acquired pneumoniae patients with positive results of a Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen testing (N=99)
Variables N (%)
Gender  
 Male 71 (71.7)
 Female 28 (28.3)
Age (mean ± standard deviation) 65.8 ± 12.5
Final diagnosis considered  
 Streptococcal pneumonia 9 (9.1)
 Other bacterial pneumonia 23 (23.2)
 Unknown etiology 67 (67.7)
Underlying disease  
 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 44 (44.4)
  Neoplasm 29 (29.3)
  Lung cancer 9 (9.1)
  Gastrointestinal malignancy 9 (9.1)
  Hematologic malignancy 8 (8.1)
  Head and neck tumor 2 (2.0)
  Breast cancer 1 (1.0)
 Tuberculosis 21 (21.3)
 Diabetes 17 (17.2)
 Renal failure 9 (9.1)
 Mental disease 6 (6.1)
 Heart failure 4 (4.0)
 Rheumatoid disease 3 (3.0)
The number of possessing underlying disease  
 None 10 (10.1)
 ≥1 89 (89.9)
 ≥2 41 (41.4)
X-Ray  
  Unilobar 41 (41.4)
  Bilateral 46 (46.5)
  Parapneumonic effusion 12 (12.1)
Antibiotic treatment at emergency room arrival  
 Prior antibiotic therapy 43 (43.4)
 No prior antibiotic therapy 45 (45.5)
 Unavailable data 11 (11.1)
Table 2.
Possible cross-reacting microorganisms in this study (N=35)
Positive agent Total (N=35) Sputum (N=25) Blood culture (N=10)
Pneumonic etiologic agents considered (N=23)      
Klebsiella pneumoniae 7 6 1
Staphylococcus aureus 6 5 1
Pseudomonas aeruginosa 5 5  
Acinetobacter baumannii 2 2  
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia 1 1  
Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B streptococcus) 1 1  
Klebsiella ornithinolytica 1 1  
Non-pneumonic agents considered (N=12)      
Coagulase negative staphylococcus 5   5
Alpha-hemolytic streptococcus 2 2  
Yeast 2 2  
Escherichia coli 1   1
(Urinary tract infection)      
Proteus vulgaris (Urinary tract infection) 1   1
Enterococcus fecalis 1   1
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