Prognosis

Patients with culture-documented Chlamydia pneumoniae respiratory infection, including community-acquired pneumonia, generally respond very well to antibiotic treatment with faster resolution of symptoms.[11][12] Approximately 10% of patients may require a second course of treatment. Chlamydia pneumoniae may persist in the respiratory tract after acute illness for periods of 6 months or longer if not treated.[22][23] However, most patients improve clinically despite persistence of the organism.[13][14][19][20][21] True antibiotic resistance in C pneumoniae in patients after treatment has not been demonstrated. In vitro susceptibility testing of isolates obtained from patients with persistent infection have not demonstrated any change from isolates obtained at baseline.[13][14][21][24] As culture is not performed routinely in the clinical setting, it is not possible to determine if persistence is secondary to resistance, or even if the organism is still present. However, C pneumoniae does not appear to easily develop resistance in vitro.[24]

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