Effect of glucocorticoid combined with azithromycin on serum inflammatory factors and pulmonary function in children with influenza A virus-induced pneumonia

Influenza A virus pneumonia in children is a serious respiratory infection disease. In view of the limitations of single treatment at present, this study aims to explore the clinical effect of glucocorticoid (GC) combined with azithromycin (AZM) on it. the data of 75 children with swine flu pneumonia were analyzed retrospectively, and they were divided into GC group (GCG), AZM group (AZMG), and GC + AZM group (combined group, CG) according to the treatment scheme, with 25 cases in each group. Clinical symptom recovery time, total effective rate, pulmonary function index before and after the treatment, including peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced vital capacity (FVC), functional residual capacity (FRC), maximum inspiratory pressure (PImax), and other pulmonary ventilation indicators, and serum inflammatory factors such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-8 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), c-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC), and procalcitonin (PCT) were compared. the recovery time of body temperature and disappearance time of lung rales in the CG group were significantly shorter than those in the GCG/AZMG group (P < .05), with a total effective rate of 92%, which was significantly higher than that in the GCG/AZMG group (60%, 64%, P < .05). The lung function index and serum inflammatory factors were significantly improved, PEF, FVC, FRC, and PImax were significantly increased, while TNF-α, IL-8, IL-6, CRP, WBC, and PCT were significantly decreased in CG compared with GCG and AZMG (P < .05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions (rash events, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea) among the 3 groups (P > .05). the combined use of GC and AZM shows better efficacy than single treatment in treating children with influenza A virus pneumonia, which can significantly shorten the recovery time of clinical symptoms, improve the treatment efficiency, improve lung function indexes and reduce the level of serum inflammatory factors. This discovery provides a new idea for the clinical treatment of children with swine flu pneumonia.