SAN DIEGO-What looks like nasal allergy may actually be chronic infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae.
Swedish researchers found the organism in 11 of 12 patients with rhinitis that persisted for at least a year. Their symptoms disappeared after lengthy treatment with macrolides but recurred in most two months to a year later, says Dr. Goran Falck of Uppsala University Hospital. Three of the patients were smokers, and all 11 with C. pneumoniae infection complained of tenacious mucus in the throat. Some had disturbed sleep and fatigue.
Ten patients were positive for C. pneumoniae by PCR of throat specimens and nine had specific antibodies, Dr. Falck told the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy here. Immunohistochemistry was positive in 11 of 12 throat biopsies and four of eight nasal biopsies.
