[Bacteriological examinations of bronchial secretion in children with non-specific bronchopulmonary disease (author's...

One thousand specimens of bronchial secretion from children with non-specific respiratory diseases have been examined bacteriologically. In spite of the complex nature of acute and especially of chronic respiratory disease the role of bacterial infection should not be underestimated. Thirty per cent of the specimens were sterile. More than 20 per cent of the bacterial species isolated from bronchial secretion were pathogenic. Relatively frequent was the isolation of E. coli and of pathogenic staphylococci. Nearly 40 per cent of all isolated bacteria were alpha-haemolytic streptococci. The latter have been found more frequently in children with, than in children without bronchological alterations. The pathogenicity of alpha-haemolytic streptococci in the bronchial tree is discussed.