[Interstitial pneumonia due to Chlamydia trachomatis in infants. Three cases (author's transl)].

The early onset of the disease (between the 13th and 15th days of life) and its long duration in 2 out of 3 cases, the absence of infectious symptoms and the efficacy of erythromycin treatment were characteristic features. The diagnosis was confirmed by positive (greater than 1/32th) serological tests in both infants and parents. Chlamydia trachomatis lung infection should be suspected in infants presenting, during the first weeks of life, with cough and dyspnoea unaccompanied by fever, radiological evidence of interstitial pneumonia, blood eosinophilia and raised immunoglobulin levels. The disease results from intranatal contamination and might represent, in France as in the U.S.A., an important percentage of respiratory infections occurring during the early months of life.