Comparison of clinical characteristics of adenovirus and non-adenovirus pneumonia in children.

Forty-eight cases of adenovirus pneumonia in children were treated in the Department of Pediatrics of Taipei Veterans General Hospital from January 1998 through December 2000. The clinical characteristics of these patients were compared with those of a control group of 70 patients with non-adenovirus pneumonia mostly caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae and other viruses during the same period. No difference was found between the adenovirus and non-adenovirus groups in age, sex, duration of fever, and hospitalization days. Chest retraction and extrapulmonary manifestations were significantly more common in the adenovirus group, especially conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, lymphadenopathy, bleeding diathesis, and exanthema. C-reactive protein levels were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group. In the adenovirus group, 2 patients died and 5 had permanent lung damage after adenovirus infections. No mortality or long-term sequelae were found in the non-adenovirus group. Adenovirus may cause diseases manifesting predominantly as fever and lower respiratory tract infection that may require hospitalization. Extrapulmonary manifestations were observed in more than half of children with adenovirus infections. Adenoviral pneumonia can be fatal and permanent lung damage may be noted during the follow-up period.