Use of polymerase chain reaction to characterize the etiology of culture-negative empyema and parapneumonic effusion among Alaska Native children - 2018-2023

Jonathan Steinberg; Carolynn DeByle; Benjamin Westley; Marah Gotcsik; Jesse Geis; Srinivasan Velusamy; Marc Fischer

doi:10.1093/jpids/piae131

Use of polymerase chain reaction to characterize the etiology of culture-negative empyema and parapneumonic effusion among Alaska Native children - 2018-2023

J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2024 Dec 23:piae131. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piae131. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jonathan Steinberg¹, Carolynn DeByle¹, Benjamin Westley², Marah Gotcsik², Jesse Geis¹, Srinivasan Velusamy³, Marc Fischer¹

Affiliations

¹ Arctic Investigations Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
² Alaska Native Medical Center, Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A.
³ Streptococcus Laboratory, Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.

PMID: 39713952
DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piae131

Abstract

We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify bacterial infections in culture-negative pleural fluid specimens from Alaska Native children hospitalized with empyema. PCR identified ≥1 organism in 11 (79%) of 14 specimens. Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3 was detected in six specimens; all six participants had received 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Keywords: Streptococcus pneumoniae; American Indian or Alaska Native; bacterial infections; child; empyema; vaccination.

Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2024. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.