ANTIBODY-RESPONSE TO CHLAMYDIA-PNEUMONIAE INFECTION IN CHILDREN WITH RESPIRATORY ILLNESS

Serologic diagnosis of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection has been based o n the microimmunofluorescence test (MIF). However, recent prospective studies in children have found that >50% infected with C. pneumoniae f ailed to develop any antibodies detectable by MIF. In this study, sing le sera from 46 culture-positive and 42 culture-negative children with respiratory infection and known MIF status were examined by immunoblo tting. Forty-one (89.1%) of the single sera from culture-positive and 27 (64.3%) from culture-negative children reacted to C. pneumoniae ant igens in immunoblot. C. pneumoniae proteins most frequently recognized by sera from culture-positive patients were at 101-102, 72-76, 50-52, 48-49, 43-44, 41-42, and 30-31 kDa. However, there did not appear to be a correlation of specific band patterns and culture status.