Predictors of treatment failure in hospitalized children [3-59 months] with severe and very severe pneumonia.

We conducted this case-control study in children (age 3-59 mo) to study the risk factors for failure of standard treatment in severe and very severe community acquired pneumonia. One hundred and eighty one children were enrolled in the study among whom 31 (20.4%) had treatment failure. The independent risk factors for treatment failure by 48 hours using multivariate analysis were: infancy, measles immunization not given by 9 months, severe malnutrition, very fast breathing at baseline, hypoxemia at baseline, and bacteremia.