Addressing the Analytic Challenges of Cross-Sectional Pediatric Pneumonia Etiology Data.

ABSTRACT: Despite tremendous advances in diagnostic laboratory technology, identifying the pathogen(s) causing pneumonia remains challenging because the infected lung tissue cannot usually be sampled for testing. Consequently, to obtain information about pneumonia etiology, clinicians and researchers test specimens distant to the site of infection. These tests may lack sensitivity (eg, blood culture, which is only positive in a small proportion of children with pneumonia) and/or specificity (eg, detection of pathogens in upper respiratory tract specimens, which may indicate asymptomatic carriage or a less severe syndrome, such as upper respiratory infection). While highly sensitive nucleic acid detection methods and testing of multiple specimens improve sensitivity, multiple pathogens are often dete

SUBMITTER: Hammitt LL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5447845 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature