[Epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia in children. Current data]

Bronconeumopatías agudas del niño

Las infecciones infantiles afectan con frecuencia al aparato respiratorio inferior. Las clasificaciones convencionales, basadas en el tipo de afección anatómica, radiológica y etiopatogénica, permiten definir entidades clínicas (bronquitis, bronquiolitis, neumopatía); sin embargo, la evaluación de la gravedad del proceso es lo más útil para decidir el tipo y la rapidez del tratamiento. Aunque la etiología viral es la más frecuente, la estrategia fundamental para reducir la morbilidad e incluso la mortalidad de las infecciones respiratorias bajas se basa en el tratamiento adecuado de las neumonías bacterianas. Ante la ausencia de especificidad, es indispensable, cuando esté indicado, recurrir a una antibioticoterapia inicial probabilística que incluya el neumococo. En el niño, las muestras no suelen proceder del parénquima pulmonar y, además, la recogida de las secreciones bronquiales durante los primeros años de vida no es de buena calidad. Al contrario de lo que ocurre con los virus, el examen bacteriológico de las secreciones de las vías respiratorias altas es poco útil, porque los niños suelen ser portadores de gérmenes que pueden causar neumopatías. Los datos clínicos y radiológicos sólo pueden sugerir el diagnóstico. El desarrollo de técnicas que detectan antígenos microbianos o la búsqueda de material genético por biología molecular han permitido mejorar de manera significativa la identificación del patógeno responsable y la elección del tratamiento adecuado. Algunos grupos particulares de pacientes pueden padecer una afección respiratoria por agentes infecciosos inusuales o, incluso, oportunistas. Una proporción importante de la afectación respiratoria del adulto puede atribuirse a las agresiones pulmonares sufridas durante su infancia. La aplicación de vacunas, en especial, la antigripal y la antineumocócica, es fundamental para la prevención de estas afecciones respiratorias.

[Different diagnosis of children with viral or bacterial bronchopneumonia infection]

Community-acquired bronchopneumonia is very common in children and responsible for a great morbidity. It can be revealed by bronchiolitis, due to viral infection, bronchitis (80% due to viruses), and pneumonia potentially much more severe due to bacteria (60%), viruses (40%) or both causes (20%). Being unable to exclude a bacterial origin in pneumonia leads physicians to prescribe systematically antibiotics.

Improvements in nutritional management as a determinant of reduced mortality from community-acquired lower respiratory tract infection in hospitalized children from rural central Africa

BACKGROUND

In-hospital mortality from lower respiratory tract infections (LTRI) is unacceptably high in developing countries where LTRI are still a leading cause of death.

OBJECTIVE

To identify new approaches to reduce in-hospital mortality of LRTI through the improvement of its management.

METHODS

The prospectively collected database of children admitted during an 11-year period with LRTI in a pediatric rural hospital in Central Africa was reviewed to determine the predictors of death and to evaluate the impact on mortality of 4 different protocols for the management of malnutrition.

RESULTS

During the study period, 859 children were admitted with a nonmeasles severe LRTI. In the 3-year period during which blood cultures were obtained, 29.0% of the children with LRTI were bacteremic, and multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae were recovered in 81.4% of positive blood cultures. Independent predictors of death in children without edema were age <24 months, dehydration and hepatomegaly with adjusted odds ratios (numbers in parentheses, 95% confidence interval) of 3.47 (1.70-7.08), 4.24 (2.11-8.50) and 2.90 (1.43-5.85), respectively. In those with edema, a significantly increased risk of death was noted for girls [4.31 (1.71-10.90)], in children with z-score of weight to height < or = -3 [5.45 (1.67-17.79)] and when the serum albumin was <16 g/l [2.58 (1.01-6.58)]. The improvement in the management of malnutrition was followed by a reduction of LRTI-related mortality in children with edema from 32.4 to 8.9% (P < 0.001). In children without edema, the LRTI-related mortality decreased from approximately 12% to 3.5% when their diet was supplemented with micronutrients.

CONCLUSION

This study indicates that the improvement of the management of underlying nutritional deficiencies is crucial for the reduction of the high in-hospital case fatality rate associated with severe nonmeasles LRTI. The empiric antibiotic regimen should be modified to cover for multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae.