Compared with neither crackles nor wheeze, any wheeze was associated with lower CRP (<40 mg/L) on conventional auscultation (aOR=0.50, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.92) and was inversely associated with very severe pneumonia status on digital auscultation (aOR=0.67, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.97). This evidence concerns the gene CRP and susceptibility to pneumonia measurement.