Comparison of CRP, Full Blood Count Parameters and Transaminases across Different Age Groups of Children with Mycoplasma Pneumonia

Abstract

Objective: Mycoplasma pneumonia (MP) is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia in about 10%–30% of children. The combination of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with serology tests appears to provide better accuracy in the diagnosis of MP; however, these tests are not widely available. Therefore, its diagnosis could be challenging in younger children and would still require other conventional approaches with clinical examination, chest X-ray, and basic laboratory tests such as full blood count and c-reactive protein (CRP) across the most of the clinical settings. In this regard, the objective of this study is to investigate how CRP, full blood count parameters, and transaminases differ among older and younger children.
Methods: We reviewed the data of 2,246 patients aged between 0 and 18 years who were diagnosed with pneumonia between January 2011 and December 2018, and finally included 49 patients who had positive MP IgM in this study. Thereafter, we divided the patients into two groups as children aged ≤5 years and children aged >5 years, and compared the values of hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC), neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, monocytes, platelet, CRP, and transaminases in the groups.
Results: The analyses showed that WBC (p=0.001), lymphocytes (p=0.001) and monocyte counts (p=0.004), and CRP (p=0.013) were significantly higher in the children younger than five years. On the contrary, Hb was significantly lower in the children younger than five years (p=0.001).
Conclusion: Children younger than five years who have been diagnosed with MP might exhibit more inflammatory response, which is represented with higher CRP levels. Although monocyte and lymphocyte counts were also higher in the younger group (less than five years), this might be an age-related finding.