Antibiotics for community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections secondary to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in children.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is widely recognised as an important cause of community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children. Pulmonary manifestations are typically tracheobronchitis or pneumonia but M. pneumoniae is also implicated in wheezing episodes in both asthmatic and non-asthmatic individuals. Although antibiotics are used to treat LRTIs, a review of several major textbooks offers conflicting advice for using antibiotics in the management of M. pneumoniae LRTI in children.