Letters to the Editor

Abstract

We appreciate Dr. Smith's comments regarding our recent paper.¹ The major objective of our study was to define the likelihood of persistent pulmonary infiltrates in children initially presenting with acute pneumonia. We purposely excluded children with any history suggestive of prior immunologic, cardiac, or pulmonary disease including previous pneumonitis, and therefore our recommendations pertain only to first episodes of pneumonia. Although the number of children in this study is small and the time period covered only two respiratory seasons, our experience suggests that radiographically persistent infiltrates are less frequent than one occurrence in 70 in children with acute pneumonia.