Chay O M, Hiew J, Tan C K, Foo A L, Lim K W, Cheng H K
Department of Paediatrics, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 1992 Jun;23(2):293-6.
Acute respiratory infections are common childhood illnesses. Most are mild and self-limiting. Five percent are lower respiratory tract diseases and are potentially serious. A prospective study was conducted to ascertain the etiology of community-acquired severe lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) in hospital based patients. Mycoplasma was the most frequently identified agent (33%). This was followed by viruses (28%) and bacteria (15%). Twenty-four percent of children had no identified causative agent.