Culture versus polymerase chain reaction for the etiologic diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonia in antibiotic-pretreated pediatric patients.

Tracheal aspirates were collected from 176 hospitalized antibiotic-pretreated children with community-acquired pneumonia. Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae were detected by both culture and target-enriched multiplex (TEM)-PCR whereas Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae were detected by TEM-PCR only. TEM-PCR detected more S. pneumoniae (32 vs. 7) and H. influenzae (29 vs. 23) than did culture. TEM-PCR detected an additional 26 M. pneumoniae and 1 C. pneumoniae. TEM-PCR significantly enhances the pathogen-specific diagnosis of CAP in children.