Etiology of acute bronchitis in adults

A total of 126 adult patients with acute bronchitis were subjected to microbiological, virological and immunological examination. Influenza and other acute respiratory viral infections were detected in 104 (82.5%) cases of acute bronchitis. The results of microbiological examination and the study of local and systemic immunity showed that in 94.4 +/- 2.6% of the patients the development of acute bronchitis was linked with the appearance of acute pneumococcal infection irrespective of the presence, or absence, of virologically and serologically confirmed acute viral or mycoplasmal infections.     

Etiology of acute bronchitis in young children

In the microbiological examination of 132 children aged 0-3 years with acute bronchitis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae at a concentration of greater than or equal to 10(4) cells/ml, as well as different species of opportunistic bacteria, were isolated from tracheobronchial washings obtained from 100 of these children. S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were found to play the leading role in the etiology of the acute bacterial inflammatory process in acute bronchitis in children.     

Etiological structure of respiratory infections in different variants of acute bronchitis

The microbiological and virological examination of 87 acute bronchitis patients (36 patients with the prolonged course and 31 patients with the relapsing course of the disease) was carried out. All forms of bronchitis were characterized by a high degree of infection with respiratory viruses and pneumococci. Haemophilus influenzae (type b) infection was registered rather rarely and only in combination with pneumococcal one. The highest characteristics of viro-bacterial associations were found in patients with acute bronchitis and with prolonged form of acute bronchitis, viral associations--with the prolonged and relapsing forms of the course of acute bronchitis in the presence of the bronchoobstructive syndrome.     

The role of Chlamydia pneumoniae in etiology of acute bronchitis in children

During examination of 60 children aged 3-15 years with manifestations of acute bronchitis Chlamydia pneumoniae antigen was detected in their nasal and pharynx smears in 11.7% of cases with the use of enzyme immunoassay and indirect immunofluorescence test. In 10% of cases chlamydial pneumonia was diagnosed serologically. In the course of complex laboratory diagnostics C. pneumoniae was detected in 13.3% of cases. The most complete information could be obtained by a combination of different methods of the antigen detection as well as specific IgG and IgM antibodies.     

Spectrum of pneumotropic pathogens in pediatric patients with acute bronchitis and pneumonia]

One hundred eighty nine children with acute bronchopulmonary infectious pathological processes were examined bacteriologically and serologically for typical pneumotropic pathogens, 47 of them being as well examined for atypical organisms. Microbial associations mainly with Mycoplasma and Pneumocystis and to a lesser extent with Chlamydia were isolated from the majority of the children. Reactivation of the cytomegalovirus infection was observed in 25 per cent of the children. Pneumonia and bronchitis due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae either as a monoagent or in associations were mainly stated in children over 7 years of age. No significant changes between the indices of the infection due to a definite organism and the active progression of the infectious process of the same etiology were revealed, though in the cases of chlamydiosis the changes reached almost 10 per cent. In cases of acute bronchitis and pneumonia the chlamydial or cytomegalovirus infection could be assumed to be of the persisting nature, mainly acute in cases of pneumococcal infection, mixed in cases of hemophilic or pneumocystic infection, primary contamination with a tendency to prolonged in cases of mycoplasmic infection. The findings of the examination and the clinical and anamnestic data showed that the clinical picture of acute pneumonia had specific features associated with the supposed etiological agents, still it could change under the action of associations of pneumotropic pathogens.     

Immunological research and criteria for determining the etiology of acute bronchitis in young children

In the determination of the etiology of acute bronchitis in children, a complex of microbiological and immunological methods should be used. The isolation of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae at a concentration of greater than or equal to 10(4) cels/ml from tracheobronchial washings is the early and most significant method for the determination of the etiology and therapy of acute bronchitis. On the basis of microbiological and immunobiological criteria, the etiological role of S. pneumoniae has been determined in 78% of patients and that of H. influenzae, in 48% of patients, mainly in association with pneumococci.     

EPs® 7630-solution – an effective therapeutic option in acute and exacerbating bronchitis

Acute bronchitis is one of the most common diagnoses in ambulatory care medicine. Although the benefit of antibiotics for acute bronchitis, which is mostly virally induced, is disputed, they are often prescribed. A therapeutic option for respiratory tract infections that do not fall within the strict indication range for antibiotic administration is the liquid herbal drug preparation from the roots of Pelargonium sidoides, EPs^® 7630 (Umckaloabo^®), which has been tested against placebo in double-blind clinical trials. EPs^® 7630 has both antibacterial and immuno-modulating properties. The efficacy and tolerability of EPs^® 7630 was investigated in a prospective, open, multicentric outcomes study with 205 patients suffering from acute bronchitis or acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. The main outcome measure was the change in the total score of five symptoms typical for bronchitis (cough, expectoration, wheezing/whistling on expiration, chest pain during coughing, and dyspnoea), which were each rated using a 5-point scale (from 0=not present to 4=extremely pronounced). Further symptoms (hoarseness, headache, aching limbs and fatigue) were assessed using a four-point scale (from 0=not present to 3=very pronounced). The total score of the typical bronchitis symptoms amounted to 6.1±2.8 points on average at the start of treatment and decreased by 3.3±3.8 points to 2.8±2.6 points by the final examination on day 7. About 60.5% of the patients assessed their health condition at the end of the study as much improved or free from symptoms. The onset of action appeared after two days on average. Adverse events occurred in a total of 16 patients. There were no serious adverse events. Altogether, 78% of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the treatment.