Conclusion
Taken together, these results revealed a high frequency of C. pneumoniae in both children with URTI and CAP.
Results
Positivity for C. pneumoniae DNA was higher in samples from URTI children (38.2%) and from CAP children (18.0%) than in those from the control group (7.9%; p < 0.001). Moreover, C. pneumoniae DNA was denser in children with URTI than in asymptomatic children. Considering the cutoff, the highest value of C. pneumoniae DNA found in asymptomatic children of the 3.98 log10 copies/mL, 8.5% (14/165) of the children with URTI, and 3.3% (5/150) with CAP presented high copy numbers of C. pneumoniae DNA.