What is it about?

Pneumonia caused by fungi is a life threatening infection in Immunocompromised children. Diagnosing the pathogen is very important, in order to choose the right treatment, and this can be done by performing a Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). In this study we compared the results of fungal cultures to fungal PCR from BAL and found that PCR increased the diagnosis of fungal infections by threefold.

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Why is it important?

Fungal PCR results improved the diagnosis of fungal pneumonia in imunocompromised children, especially for Aspergillus and Pneumocystis. It guided the initiation of appropriate anti-fungal treatment when positive and spared patients prolonged anti-fungal treatment when negative.

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This page is a summary of: Polymerase‐chain‐reaction‐based diagnosis of invasive fungal pulmonary infections in immunocompromised children, Pediatric Pulmonology, February 2012, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/ppul.22523.
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