[The role of Pneumococcus in the development of acute bronchitis in young children].

To study the etiological role of Streptococcus pneumoniae in bronchial inflammation, 49 children with acute bronchitis and 21 children with acute nasopharyngitis were examined. The given patients' groups manifested no significant differences in the microflora of the upper respiratory tract, serotype landscape of pneumococcus, the level and dynamics of the immunologic characteristics. The growth of the titer of pneumococcal antibodies in the saliva in the early times of the disease as well as the lack of its changes in blood serum suggest that interaction of pneumococcus with the host is restricted in the given case by the bronchial lumen.