Epidemiological, clinical and microbiologic aspects in patients under 5 years with bacterial pneumonia

Abstract

Introduction: Acute respiratory infections take in between 20 and 40 % of  all the hospitalizations and 20 - 34% of deaths in children under 5 years, fundamentally at the expense of  pneumonia. 

Objective: To describe epidemiologic, clinical and microbiologic aspects in patients under 5 years with bacterial pneumonia. 

Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study of 39 patients with pneumonia and bacterial isolations in hemocultures, pleural fluid and/or nasopharyngeal swabs was carried out. They were admitted to Antonio María Béguez Cesar  Southern Teaching Children Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, from January, 2018 to December, 2019. Variables of interest were analyzed, such as age, sex, risk factors, symptomatology and microbiologic cultures. The absolute frequency and the percentage as summary measures were used.  

Results: There was a prevalence of patients among 1 - 4 years,  female sex and the hemocultures with negative coagulase staphylococcu, as well as pneumococus, these last ones also isolated in nasopharingeal swabs. The most frequent risk factors were previous acute respiratory infection, premature use of antibiotics, attendance to day care center, early suppression of breastfeeding, fever, cough, tirage and changes of the vesicular breath sound. The acute respiratory failure and   pleural effusion as complications prevailed. More seriousness was notified in infants and  there were 2 deaths, for a letality of 1.47 %. 

Conclusions: The combination of detected risk factors,  low positivity of the cultures,  identification of bacterias prevalents in hemocultures and the decrease of  letality was of interest in the study.