Pulmonary Infection with Lophomonas blattarum

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of Lophomonas blattarum infection in children based on a retrospective review of medical records data from Beijing Children’s Hospital, Capital Medical University, China. METHODS: This study included 53 cases from July 2014 through December 2016. The data were tabulated and statistically analysed in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and SPSS 17.0. RESULTS: The average age of the 53 patients was 7.10 ± 0.56 years, and the male/female ratio was 3:2.3. The most common clinical manifestation was cough, and almost half of the patients had fever. Furthermore, all patients were treated with metronidazole and recovered. CONCLUSIONS: For children who have had long-term respiratory symptoms, the possibility of Lophomonas blattarum infection should be ruled out. Metronidazole is effective in treating L. blattarum infection in children.