Childhood pneumonia diagnostics: a narrative review.

The optimal modality to diagnose childhood pneumonia continues to be a challenge. This is a concern given its high disease burden and the importance of diagnostics for clinical care and antimicrobial stewardship, in the setting of rising antimicrobial resistance. Lung ultrasonography is a promising radiologic diagnostic modality. Combined serum biomarkers, micro-array-based whole-genome expression arrays and metabolomic analysis are also emerging biochemical modalities for childhood pneumonia diagnosis. More research and further validation are required to evaluate the diagnostic strengths of these new and emerging modalities as well as their ability to discriminate between the major etiologies of the disease.