Medical Pharmacology Chapter 35  Antibacterial Drugs

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Pneumonia

  • "For the microbiologic diagnosis of pneumonia, by definition, an infiltrate must be present on a chest x-ray.

  • A deeply expectorated sputum sample will yield the causitive organism from 20-80% of the time, depending on the study.

  • Sputum specimens will be rejected by the laboratory if they have >10 epithelial cells per high power field.

  • The reason is that epithelial cells are usually from the upper airway, and have many adherent bacteria (see photomicrograph).

  • These bacteria constitute the normal flora of the upper airway, and confuse interpretation of the culture."

  • © 1999- KUMC Pathology and the University of Kansas, used with permission; courtesy of Dr. James Fishback, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center.

 

 

  • "Here is the Gram stain of your dreams. Lots of polys, <10 epithlial cells per high power field, and lots of Gram-positive cocci (lancet-shaped, even) that make this most likely a pneumococcal pneumonia."

  • © 1999- KUMC Pathology and the University of Kansas, used with permission; courtesy of Dr. James Fishback, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center.

 

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