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Published on: February 23, 2014
[Community acquired pneumonia in children]
Faten Tinsa1, Khadija Boussetta, Ahmed Gharbi
1Service de Médecine Infantile B, Hôpital d'Enfants de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisie.
Insights
Community acquired pneumonia in children often lacks easy etiological diagnosis. Mycoplasma pneumoniae was frequently identified, highlighting the need for improved diagnostic methods in pediatric pneumonia.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Microbiology
- Clinical Medicine
Context:
- Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) presents a significant health challenge in children, often with diagnostic difficulties.
- Current etiological diagnosis for pediatric CAP is complex, leading to probabilistic treatment strategies.
Purpose:
- To analyze clinical patterns and outcomes of pediatric CAP.
- To identify factors associated with the origin of pediatric pneumonia.
Summary:
- A prospective study analyzed 39 children hospitalized for CAP, identifying causative agents in 41% of cases.
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae was the most common pathogen, followed by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae.
- Bacterial pneumonia was linked to persistent cough, while Mycoplasma pneumoniae correlated with high fever and dry cough. C-reactive protein levels showed moderate predictive value.
Impact:
- The findings underscore the need for enhanced microbiological techniques to accurately diagnose pediatric pneumonia.
- Mycoplasma pneumoniae appears to be a prevalent pathogen in preschool-aged children with CAP.
Background:
Community acquired pneumonia is responsible for a high morbidity in children. The etiological diagnosis is not always easy and treatment remains probabilistic.
Aim:
To analysis clinical patterns and the outcome of community acquired pneumonia and to find arguments in favour of its origin.
Methods:
A prospective analysis of the files of 39 children (20 boys, 19 girls) hospitalized between (1 december 2004 - 30 june 2005) for community acquired pneumonia was performed. Included dchildren whad between 6 months and 15 years-old.
Results:
The mean age was of 3 years and three months. Germ was identified in 41% of cases: Mycoplasma pneumoniae was the most important germ found in 9 cases, pneumococcus was found in 4 cases and hemophilus in four cases. Coinfection pneumococcus and mycoplasma were found in two cases. None virus was identified. We have separated two groups: bacterial pneumonia and pneumoniae without definite etiology. Fat cough was associated to bacterial pneumonia. mycoplama pneumoniae was significantly associated with high fever and dry cough. We haven't found any others associations between clinical, biological or radiological patterns and the two groups of pneumonia. C-reactive protein more than 66 mg/l has sensitivity of 77%, specificity of 73.3%, positive predictive value of 46.7% of and negative predictive value of 91.7%. The outcome was favourable in all cases.
Conclusion:
Theses results showed the necessity to improve our microbiological methods to identify infectious agents of pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia seems to be a frequent germ in preschool children.
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