Urinary Antigen Testing for Pneumonia: Low Yield and No Clear Criteria

In a prospective cross-sectional analysis of urinary antigen testing for Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella pneumophila, no criterion for either etiology was predictive for a positive test.

The 2007 Infectious Diseases Society of America and American Thoracic Society (IDSA/ATS) guideline on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) recommends urinary antigen testing (UAT) for Streptococcus pneumoniae (SP) and Legionella pneumophila (LP) in patients with certain clinical characteristics. However, these recommendations were based on expert opinion and have not been extensively evaluated or validated. To assess how predictive these criteria are and how useful UAT in CAP may be, investigators performed a cross-sectional analysis of adults admitted with CAP between January 2010 and June 2012 at hospitals in Chicago and Nashville.

Of 1941 patients analyzed, 81 (4.2%) had a positive SP UAT and 32 (1.6%) had a positive LP UAT. For both infect…

Reviewing Author

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Neil M. Ampel, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesCoccidioidomycosis Study Group (Past President, Secretary, Treasurer)

Urinary Antigen Testing for Pneumonia: Low Yield and No Clear Criteria

Topics

Reviewing Author