Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia is an acute parenchymal lung infection with different clinical manifestations such as fever, cough, angina, and sputum production with infiltration in a radiographic cluster. Diabetes mellitus is associated with increased sensitivity to infection, disability, and death. Therefore, we aimed to compare the clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics of diabetic and non-diabetic children with pneumonia.

Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted during October 2015-March 2016 on all the patients with acquired pneumonia hospitalized in the infectious ward of Mofid Pediatric Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Patients in both diabetic and non-diabetic groups were compared in terms of the studied variables.

Results: Seventy-four patients diagnosed with acquired pneumonia were assigned to two groups of diabetic (32 subjects: 17 females and 15 males) and non-diabetic (42 subjects: 22 females and 20 males) subjects. In terms of laboratory findings, leukocytosis with 75%, polynucleosis with 44%, and culture (positive blood and sputum) with 28% were the most common findings, with leukocytosis and positive culture being more prevalent in diabetic patients. With respect to prevalence, the isolated pathogens included Streptococcus pneumoniae and Klebsiella pneumonia; although they were more prevalent in diabetic patients, considering the overall number of patients, their prevalence rate was low. In other words, out of the 74 patients, only 15 (20%) subjects had positive bacteriological results..

Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus is considered as an independent predictor of the incidence of pleural involvement and mortality in the early stages of treatment for the prevention of death and debilitating complications of the disease.