Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Feb 16, 2025; 13(5): 99149
Published online Feb 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i5.99149
Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children
Thakoon Butpech, Prakarn Tovichien
Thakoon Butpech, Prakarn Tovichien, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand
Author contributions: Butpech T and Tovichien P contributed equally to the study; Butpech T and Tovichien P designed the overall concept, outlined the manuscript, reviewed the literature, and wrote and edited the manuscript; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Thakoon Butpech and Prakarn Tovichien have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Prakarn Tovichien, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, 2 Wanglang Road, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok 10700, Thailand. prakarn.tov@mahidol.edu
Received: July 15, 2024
Revised: October 11, 2024
Accepted: November 4, 2024
Published online: February 16, 2025
Processing time: 127 Days and 3.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia who have severe imaging abnormalities, respiratory failure, or extrapulmonary complications or do not improve after macrolide treatment should be monitored for inflammatory markers such as lactic dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6. These markers help predict severe and refractory cases. Clinicians should identify the cause of macrolide non-responsiveness, such as resistant strains or co-infection, and consider starting glucocorticoid treatment for refractory cases.