In children with community-acquired viral pneumonia, which symptoms are typically observed?

In children with community-acquired viral pneumonia, the symptoms typically include mild to high fever, cough, and wheezing. This is consistent with the nature of viral pathogens, which often lead to inflammation and irritation of the airways, resulting in respiratory symptoms such as a cough and potentially wheezing due to bronchospasm or airway obstruction.

The presence of fever indicates the body's immune response to the viral infection. Cough is a common symptom as the respiratory system attempts to clear mucus and secretions. Wheezing may occur as the airways react to the viral insult, which can cause constriction and lead to the characteristic high-pitched sound during expiration.

Other symptoms like high fever and pleuritic chest pain are more typical of bacterial pneumonia rather than viral, where pleuritic pain is usually associated with irritation of the pleura due to inflammation or infection. Decreased breath sounds and dyspnea may occur in more severe cases but are not hallmark features of early viral pneumonia and are often associated with advanced or complicated cases. Lastly, while increased respiratory rate is common in respiratory infections, respiratory alkalosis specifically would be more indicative of hyperventilation due to other reasons rather than being a singleton symptom of viral pneumonia in children.