الفهرس 
Introduction and aim of the WorkOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 117 |  |  |
| | | from | 117 | | |
Abstract
S. pneumoniae is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in all societies. It‘s a major cause of pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and otitis media world wide. S. pneumoniae is the primary bacterial cause of community acquired lower respiratory infection among children in developed countries and the most common cause of invasive bacterial infection in children older than 2 months of age. The polymerase chain reaction is a rapid, sensitive and specific method for identification of microorganisms based on detection of unique segments of DNA. This work was planned for determining the infections affecting infants attending the Mansoura University Children Hospital caused by S. pneumonia, isolate pneumococci from different types of infections and to asses the value of pneumolysis PCR as a method for confirming the diagnosis Conclusions: ” PCR was positive in 83.3% of cases that confirmed by blood culture to had S. pneumoniae. ” No PCR positive cases among the control group. ” All the patients with pneumococcal meningitis were positive by PCR. ” PCR positivity was significantly associated with positivity of nasopharyngeal swab culture in patients with pneumonia. ” Pneumococcal infection was more prevalent in the age of 6-12 month and in the winter. ” Prolonged hospitalization, higher temperature and high WBCs count were important disease severity indices associated with pneumococcal infection. ” Underlying disease, day care attendance and previous ear infection are considered as risk factors in the study.