Bacterial microorganisms isolated in sputum and protected specimen brush samples
| Sputum samples n = 40 | PSB samples, n = 40 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFU, colony-forming units; PPM, potentially pathogenic microorganism; PSB, protected specimen brush. | ||||
| *Data refer to the total number of cases. | ||||
| Bacterial load, CFU/ml | ⩾102 | ⩾103 | ⩾104 | |
| Positive bacterial culture, n (%) | 18 (45) | 27 (68) | 24 (60) | 9 (23) |
| PPMs, n (%)* | 14 (35) | 18 (45) | 13 (33) | 4 (10) |
| Haemophilus influenzae | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Moraxella catarrhalis | 2 | 2 | 2 | – |
| Escherichia coli | 1 | 1 | – | – |
| Enterobacter spp | – | 1 | 1 | – |
| Pseudomonas aeruginosa | 2 | 4 | 3 | – |
| Total | 16 | 22 | 16 | 5 |
| Non-PPMs, n (%)* | 4 (10) | 10 (25) | 8 (20) | 5 (13) |
| Streptococcus viridans | – | 10 | 9 | 4 |
| Staphylococcus epidermidis | – | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Candida albicans | – | 2 | 1 | – |
| Neisseria spp | – | 3 | 1 | – |
| Mixed community flora | 4 | – | – | – |
| Total | 4 | 21 | 16 | 8 |