A Microbiological Study of Nocardia, Legionella, and Mycoplasma Isolated from Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Iraqi Patients

Authors

  • Haitham M. Al-Habib
  • Zainalabideen A. Abdulla Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Mosul

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5915/40-3-5487

Keywords:

Nocardia, Legionella, Mycoplasma, respiratory tract infections

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5915/40-3-5487

A total of 295 patients suffering from lower respiratory tract infections, including bronchitis (99), pneumonia (156), and bronchiectasis (40), were enrolled in this prospective microbiological study. The patients were of two categories: 173 were immunocompromised (with underlying diseases), and 122 were immunocompetent. Two types of clinical specimens, including sputum (216) and bronchial wash (79), were collected from these patients. Direct examination, culture, and biochemical tests were performed to test for the presence of bacteria. A total of 311 bacterial isolates and 32 fungal growths were detected. The bacterial isolates were encountered from 62.8% of the immunocompromised patients and from 37.2% of the immunocompetent patients. Out of these, 311 isolates, 17 (4.8%) were relatively uncommon pathogens of the respiratory tract, namely 11 (3.5%) were Nocardia, 4 (1.3%) were Mycoplasma, and 2 (0.6%) were Legionella. The Nocardia isolates were fully sensitive to amikacin and cotrimoxazole, and Legionella isolates were fully sensitive to erythromycin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin. Also, 294 common pathogens were isolated, namely Gram-positive (49.2%), Gram-negative (33.5%), and anaerobic (11.9%) bacteria.

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Published

2008-07-01

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 3 (2008)

Section

Original Articles

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