We have found that early corticosteroid therapy was effective for reducing morbidity during five Korea-wide epidemics. We evaluated the clinical and laboratory parameters of 56 children who received early corticosteroid treatment for pneumonia that was caused by macrolide-resistant Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) or macrolide-sensitive M. pneumoniae between July 2019 and February 2020. All subjects had dual positive results from a PCR assay and serological test, and received corticosteroids within 24-36 h after admission. Point mutation of residues 2063, 2064, and 2067 was identified in domain V of 23S rRNA. The mean age was 6.8 years and the male:female ratio was 1.2:1 (31:25 patients). Most of the subjects had macrolide-resistant M. pneumoniae (73%), and all mutated strains had the A2063G transition. No significant differences in clinical and laboratory parameters were observed between macrolide-resistant and macrolide-sensitive M. pneumoniae groups that were treated with early dose-adjusted corticosteroids. Higher-dose steroid treatment may be needed for patients who have fever that persists for >48 h or increased biomarkers such as lactate dehydrogenase concentration at follow-up despite a usual dose of steroid therapy.
Keywords: Mycoplasma pneumoniae; child; corticosteroid; macrolide; pneumonia.