Etiological profile and clinical characteristics of segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia in hospitalized children

Abstract The occurrence of segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia in children increases with years recently. The pathogens of the disease may change for the abuse of antibiotics and the application of pneumococal vaccines. The pathogens of segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia in hospitalized children and their association with clinical characteristics are poorly understood nowadays. The current study retrospectively analyzed the pathogens and clinical characteristics of segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia in children at a single hospital between 1 st Jan 2014 and 31 st Dec 2018. The pathogens and their associations with clinical characteristics were statistically analyzed. A total of 593 children with segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia received treatment at a single hospital during the study period. 451 patients were positive for one pathogen and 83 patients were positive for two pathogens or more. Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M.pneumoniae) (72.34%) was the most commonly detected pathogen, followed by streptococcus pneumoniae (S.pneumoniae) (8.77%). The infection of M.pneumoniae in children with segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia increased with years (p<0.05). The positive rate of M.pneumoniae increased with ages of patients (p<0.05). M.pneumoniae was statistically associated to the extrapulmonary manifestations while S.pneumoniae was statistically associated with abnormal WBCs and CRPs (p<0.05). In a summary, M.pneumoniae was the most positive pathogen of segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia in hospitalized children. The positive rate of M.pneumoniae in children with segmental/lobar pattern pneumonia increased with years and the ages of children. M.pneumoniae was associated with extrapulmonary manifestations while S.pneumoniae was associated with abnormal WBCs and CRPs.