J Korean Med Sci.  2018 Oct;33(43):e268. 10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e268.

Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of Prolonged Macrolide, Corticosteroid, Doxycycline, and Levofloxacin against Macrolide-Unresponsive Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia in Children

• Ha SG
• Oh KJ
• Ko KP
• Sun YH
• Ryoo E
• Tchah H
• Jeon IS
• Kim HJ
• Ahn JM
• Cho HK

• KMID: 2422700
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2018.33.e268

Abstract

BACKGROUND
We aimed to compare the therapeutic efficacy of prolonged macrolide (PMC), corticosteroids (CST), doxycycline (DXC), and levofloxacin (LFX) against macrolide-unresponsive Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) pneumonia in children and to evaluate the safety of the secondary treatment agents.
METHODS
We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with MP pneumonia hospitalized between January 2015 and April 2017. Macrolide-unresponsiveness was clinically defined with a persistent fever of ≥ 38.0°C at ≥ 72 hours after macrolide treatment. The cases were divided into four groups: PMC, CST, DXC, and LFX. We compared the time to defervescence (TTD) after secondary treatment and the TTD after initial macrolide treatment in each group with adjustment using propensity score-matching analysis.
RESULTS
Among 1,165 cases of MP pneumonia, 190 (16.3%) were unresponsive to macrolides. The proportion of patients who achieved defervescence within 48 hours in CST, DXC, and LFX groups were 96.9% (31/33), 85.7% (12/14), and 83.3% (5/6), respectively. The TTD after initial macrolide treatment did not differ between PMC and CST groups (5.1 vs. 4.2 days, P = 0.085), PMC and DXC groups (4.9 vs. 5.7 days, P = 0.453), and PMC and LFX groups (4.4 vs. 5.0 days, P = 0.283). No side effects were observed in the CST, DXC, and LFX groups.
CONCLUSION
The change to secondary treatment did not show better efficacy compared to PMC in children with macrolide-unresponsive MP pneumonia. Further studies are needed to guide appropriate treatment in children with MP pneumonia.

Keyword

Antibiotics; Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Pneumonia

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Child*
Doxycycline*
Fever
Humans
Levofloxacin*
Macrolides
Mycoplasma pneumoniae*
Mycoplasma*
Pneumonia*
Pneumonia, Mycoplasma*
Retrospective Studies
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Doxycycline
Macrolides