The Role of Chlamydophila pneumoniae in the Human Bronchopulmonary Diseases

Abstract

So-called atypical respiratory pathogens in general and Chlamydophila pneumoniae in particular, are now well recognized as a common cause of acute upper and lower respiratory-tract infections, especially communityacquired pneumonia. Furthermore C. pneumoniae may also play a role in the pathogenesis of same noninfectious diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and others. The lack of a gold standard for early clinical diagnosis of these pathogens makes difficulties for the current understanding of their true prevalence and role in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases. Macrolides, respiratory fluoroquinolones and doxycycline are now well known as antimicrobials that are active against intracellular atypical pathogens. But difficulties of etiological diagnosis for community-acquired pneumonia still limits optimization of antibiotic therapy.