[Therapy of pneumonia in children with mezlocillin (author's transl)]. / Therapie der Pneumonien im Kindesalter mit Mezlocillin.

Pneumonia in children requires immediate antibiotic treatment. The identification of the causative organism is very difficult and, therefore, of little importance for therapy. A number of simple examinations, such as BSR, neutrophil count and unsegmented neutrophil count, allow to differentiate between bacterial and viral infections. This method is particularly suitable for assessing an antibiotic treatment retrospectively. These considerations were borne in mind when instituting treatment in 72 babies and children suffering from pneumonia. The following diagnoses were established: 12 cases of whooping cough associated with pneumonia, 4 cases of congenital defects and pneumonia, 1 case of rare Salmonella-induced septicopyaemia and pneumonia, 6 cases of pneumonia and reduced defence against infections and 49 cases of primary pneumonia. Except for one child presenting an insufficiently developed immunity system, all the children were rapidly cured within 5-7 days. The only side effect observed was rash in two cases.