ArticleBMC infectious diseases2019
Diversity of upper respiratory tract infections and prevalence of Streptococcus pneumoniae colonization among patients with fever and flu-like symptoms.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Vaccines for the common cold.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Optimization and preparation of in-situ mucoadhesive gel of azithromycin hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex against upper respiratory tract infections.BMC pharmacology & toxicology · 2025Article
- Carmofur Exhibits Antimicrobial Activity AgainstAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Gamified interventions to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice on rational use of antibiotics among school children in Mysuru, South India, to curb the growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR).Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Antibiotic Prescribing Decisions for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections Among Primary Healthcare Physicians in China: A Mixed-Methods Approach Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Exploring the association between phytopharmaceutical use and antibiotic prescriptions in upper respiratory infections: results from a German cohort study evaluating the impact of naturopathy qualifications of general practitioners using routine data.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Metagenomics characterization of respiratory viral RNA pathogens in children under five years with severe acute respiratory infection in the Free State, South Africa.Journal of medical virology · 2023Article
- Oropharyngeal Probiotic ENT-K12 as an Effective Dietary Intervention for Children With Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infections During Cold Season.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- SerumPeerJ · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMany upper respiratory pathogens cause similar symptoms. In China, routine molecular tests for upper respiratory pathogens are not widely performed and antibiotics abuse in treating upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) is a major public health concern.
methodsWe performed qualitative real-time PCR tests to detect common upper respiratory tract pathogens including 9 viruses and 3 bacteria in 1221 nasopharyngeal swabs from patients with fever and influenza-like symptoms in a Chinese city. A quantitative real-time PCR was also performed to measure the bacterial density of the colonizing Streptococcus pneumoniae in these samples.
resultsWe found very diverse pathogens including 81.7% viruses, 11.6% bacteria and 6.7% mixed viruses and bacteria. S. pneumoniae colonization was found in 8.0% of the cases but most of them had low bacterial density (Mean = 3.9 log cfu/ml). We also discovered an increase of S. pneumoniae colonization frequency (but not the density) in patients with detectable upper respiratory tract pathogens, in a pathogen variety-dependent manner.
conclusionsOur study provided strong evidence against empiric antibiotic use for treating URTIs, and highlighted a strong need for improving the diagnostic capacity for URTIs by using more molecular testing in China.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.