Macrolide use shortens fever duration in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children: a 2-year experience.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is a major cause of community-acquired respiratory tract infection in children. We performed a retrospective study to evaluate clinical and demographic data and compare outcomes with and without macrolide treatment in children with M. pneumoniae infection. METHODS A total of 139 patients were included in the study and classified into two groups according to whether or not they received macrolide therapy during hospitalization. Data collected included demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics. RESULTS Cases were most prevalent during September. Fever and cough were the most common presenting symptoms/signs. The time to fever subsidence did not differ significantly between azithromycin and erythromycin usage. We also found significantly longer fever duration in the group without macrolide usage. CONCLUSION Treatment with macrolide shortens fever duration of M. pneumoniae infection in children.