Pneumonia, Chlamydophila

Key Features

• Chlamydophila pneumoniae (formerly known as Chlamydia pneumoniae) causes pneumonia and bronchitis

• C pneumoniae causes approximately 10% of community-acquired pneumonias

• C pneumoniae is second only to Mycoplasma as an agent of atypical pneumonia

Clinical Findings

• The clinical presentation is that of an atypical pneumonia

Diagnosis

• Microimmunofluorescence or complement fixation test of acute and convalescent sera

Treatment

• Strains of C pneumoniae are resistant to sulfonamides

• Azithromycin, 500 mg orally on day 1 and 250 mg daily for days 2–5, or doxycycline, 100 mg orally two times a day for 10 days, appear to be effective therapy

• Fluoroquinolones, such as levofloxacin, 500 mg orally or moxifloxacin 400 mg orally once daily for 7–14 days, are active in vitro against C pneumoniae and are probably effective

• It is unclear if empiric coverage for atypical pathogens in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia provides a survival benefit or improves clinical outcome