Factors Related to the Severity of Symptoms in Children Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Pneumonia

Objective To evaluate factors influencing the severity of MPP.Methods 186 MPP children admitted to Guangyuan Center hospital from 2005 to 2009 were involved into the study.Indirect microparticle agglutinin assay and cold agglutinins titer were conducted at both admission and discharge.A total of 186 children with MPP were grouped by age: ≤ 2 years of age(28 patients),3~5 years of age(79 patients),and ≥ 6 years of age(79 patients).They were also grouped by pneumonia pattern: bronchopneumonia group(94 patients) and segmental/lobar pneumonia group(92 patients).In addition,the children aged≥6 years(79 patients) were classified into three groups based on the severity of pneumonia: bronchopneumonia group(25 patients),mild segmental/lobar group(31 patients),and severe segmental/lobar group(23 patients).Ages,clinical symptoms,pulmonary lesions,laboratory findings and seroconversion rate of the 186 children with MPP were retrospectively analyzed.Results The fever in the three age groups all lasted ≥7 days.There were significant differences among the three different age groups in bronchopneumonia,segmental/lobar,white blood cell count,neutrophil,lymphocyte,platelet count and C-reactive protein values(P0.05).The age,duration of fever,hospitalization,WBC count,neutrophil,lymphocyte,absolute lymphocyte count,platelet count,CRP,ESR and seroconversion rate were significantly different between the bronchopneumonia group and the segmental/lobar group(P0.05).Hospitalization,CRP and seroconversion rate were significantly different among the bronchopneumonia group,the mild segmental/lobar group and the severe segmental/lobar group(P0.05).Conclusion In MPP,older children had longer fever and more severe pulmonary lesions.The severity of pulmonary lesions was associated with the absence of diagnostic IgM antibodies and lymphocyte count.Rapid pairing IgM serologic test is of great importance for early diagnosis of MPP.