Serological diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia--will it ever become a clinical reality.

Bacterial serology is not commonly used in the etiological diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. This is partly because of the lack of commercial tests for this purpose. In addition, if paired sera taken about 2 weeks apart are needed, the positive pneumococcal finding obtained after the patient has been discharged from the hospital does not help clinicians in selecting the proper antibiotic treatment for the patient. Pneumococcal serology, however, is needed in both etiologic and epidemiological surveys as well as in the studies on the clinical efficacy of pneumococcal vaccines.