[Traditional Chinese and Western medicine treatment of mycoplasmal pneumonia in children and the serum cytokine changes].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) treatments on mycoplasmal pneumonia in children and the changes in the serum cytokines. METHODS: Ninety children with mycoplasmal pneumonia were randomly divided into the treatment group and the control group. TCM was given orally and azithromycin at the daily dose of 10 mg/kg was administered intravenously in the treatment group. In the control group, only intravenous azithromycin was given. After a 7-day treatment, the response rate, time of symptom disappearance, and serum levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha were observed. RESULTS: The total response rate was 93.33% in the treatment group and 73.33% in the control group, showing a significantly better therapeutic effect in the treatment group (P<0.05). The combined treatments also showed better effects in alleviating fever, coughing and rales (P<0.05), and resulted in more obvious reduction in the serum levels of cytokines (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Combined treatment with TCM and WM produce good therapeutic effects in children with mycoplasmal pneumonia.