Efficacy of azithromycin combined with methylprednisolone in the treatment of severe mycoplasma pneumonia in 100 children / 中国基层医药

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of azithromycin combined with methylprednisolone in the treatment of severe mycoplasma pneumonia in children.Methods:A total of 200 children patients with severe mycoplasma pneumonia who received treatment in Putuo District People's Hospital of Zhoushan, China from January 2015 to December 2018 were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to receive treatment with azithromycin (control group, n = 100) or azithromycin combined with methylprednisolone (observation group, n = 100) for 7 successive days. Time to improvement of signs and symptoms, total effective rate, inflammatory factors, incidence of adverse reactions, and length of hospital stay were compared between the control and observation groups. Results:Fever subsidence time, cough disappearance time, lung rale disappearance time and length of hospital stay in the observation group were (6.30 ± 2.16) d, (10.05 ± 2.36) d, (7.06 ± 1.95) d, (11.06 ± 2.07) d, which were significantly shorter than those in the control group [(7.75 ± 2.84) d, (12.37 ± 3.10) d, (12.30 ± 2.2) d, (14.78 ± 2.61) d, t = 4.064, 5.955, 17.734, 11.167, all P < 0.05). Total effective rate in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the control group [97.0% (97/100) vs. 85.0% (85/100), χ2 = 8.791, P < 0.05]. After treatment, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, interleukin-10 and tumor necrosis factor levels in the observation group were (8.72 ± 2.19) mg/L, (13.50 ± 3.65) ng/L, (6.06 ± 1.25) ng/L, (16.28 ± 5.09) ng/L, which were significantly lower than those in the control group [(16.11 ± 3.73) mg/L, (25.13 ± 4.86) ng/L, (8.42 ± 1.74) ng/L, (36.20 ± 6.41) ng/L, t = 17.085, 19.135, 11.015, 24.337, all P < 0.05]. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the observation and control groups ( P > 0.05). Conclusion:Azithromycin combined with methylprednisolone is highly effective and safe for the treatment of severe mycoplasma pneumonia in children. This treatment method can improve clinical symptoms and reduce inflammatory reactions in children with severe mycoplasma pneumonia.