Body water and plasma volume in severe community-acquired pneumonia: implications for fluid therapy

Association of anthropometric z score with complications and length of hospital stay in children with severe pneumonia aged 3 months to 5 years

BACKGROUND

Severe pneumonia in children accounts for a significant healthcare burden, involving prolonged hospitalization and increased risk of complications. The prognosis is closely related to the child's nutrition status. Anthropometric z scores are preferred to evaluate growth levels in children. This study aimed to investigate the association of anthropometric z scores with complications and length of hospital stay (LOS) in children with severe pneumonia.

METHODS

This study included 361 hospitalized children aged 3 months to 5 years with severe pneumonia in Tianjin, China. Anthropometry was performed, and anthropometric z scores were calculated. Blood laboratory indices were assessed, and complications and LOS were recorded.

RESULTS

The average anthropometric z scores were -0.10 ± 1.15 (body mass index for age z score), 0.00 ± 0.97 (upper arm circumference for age z score [ACAZ]), and -0.14 ± 1.00 (triceps skinfold thickness for age z score [TSAZ]). The prevalence of complications was 73.96% (n = 267), including 82 children with only respiratory complications, 71 with only extrapulmonary complications, and 114 with both. After adjusting for confounding factors, compared with the noncomplication group, only the extrapulmonary complication group had a lower TSAZ (odds ratio [OR] = 0.597; 95% CI = 0.405-0.880; P < 0.05), whereas the respiratory and extrapulmonary complication group had a lower ACAZ (OR = 0.674; 95% CI = 0.469-0.969; P < 0.05) and TSAZ (OR = 0.573; 95% CI = 0.389-0.843; P < 0.05). ACAZ (β = -0.368; 95% CI = -0.720 to 0.016; P < 0.05) and TSAZ (β = -1.123; 95% CI = -1.470 to -0.777; P < 0.05) were negatively correlated with LOS.

CONCLUSION

ACAZ and TSAZ were associated with complications and LOS of severe pneumonia in children aged 3 months to 5 years.

Co-morbidity: exploring the clinical overlap between pneumonia and diarrhoea in a hospital in Dhaka, Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

There is limited information on risk factors for pneumonia and pneumonia-related deaths in children who also have diarrhoea.

AIM

To identify risk factors for the above in order to improve strategies for case management and to develop appropriate public health messages.

METHODS

All children under 5 years of age admitted to the Special Care Ward, Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B) from 1 September to 31 December 2007 were considered for enrollment if they also had diarrhoea. Of the 258 children with diarrhoea enrolled, those with (n=198) or without (n=60) WHO-defined pneumonia constituted the pneumonia and comparison groups, respectively. Among the 198 children with pneumonia, children who survived (n=174) were compared with those who died in hospital (n=24).

RESULTS

After adjusting for socio-demographic factors, including low levels of literacy of either parent, low household income, not having a window or exhaust fan in the kitchen, household smoking and over-crowding, children with pneumonia were more likely to sleep on a bare wooden-slatted or bamboo bed (OR 2·7, 95% CI 1·40-5·21, p = 0·003) than on other bedding, and were also more likely to have a parent/care-giver with poor knowledge of pneumonia (OR 1·94, 95% CI 1·02-3·70, p=0·043). Independent risk factors for death include severe underweight (OR 5·2, 95% CI 1·2-22·0, p=0·03), hypoxaemia (OR 17·5, 95% CI I 1·9-160·0, p=0·01), severe sepsis (OR 8·7, 95% CI I 1·8-41·5, p=0·007) and lobar consolidation (OR 11·9, 95% CI 2·3-61·6, p=0·003).

CONCLUSIONS

Increased public awareness of signs of pneumonia and severe sepsis in children under 5 is important to mitigate the risks of pneumonia and pneumonia-related deaths, and the importance of appropriate bedding for young children in reducing the risk of pneumonia needs to be addressed.

Advising patients to increase fluid intake for treating acute respiratory infections

BACKGROUND

Acute respiratory infection is a common reason for people to present for medical care. Advice to increase fluid intake is a frequent treatment recommendation. Attributed benefits of fluids include replacing increased insensible fluid losses, correcting dehydration from reduced intake and reducing the viscosity of mucus. However, there are theoretical reasons for increased fluid intake to cause harm. Anti-diuretic hormone secretion is increased in lower respiratory tract infections of various aetiologies. This systematic examination of the evidence sought to determine the benefit versus harm from increasing fluid intake.

OBJECTIVES

To answer the following questions.1. Does recommending increased fluid intake as a treatment for acute respiratory infections improve duration and severity of symptoms? 2. Are there adverse effects from recommending increased fluids in people with acute respiratory infections? 3. Are any benefits or harms related to site of infection (upper or lower respiratory tract) or a different severity of illness?

SEARCH STRATEGY

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library 2010, issue 4), which contains the Acute Respiratory Infections Group's Specialised Register, MEDLINE (1966 to November Week 3, 2010), EMBASE (1974 to December 2010), Current Contents (2000 to December 2010) and CINAHL (1982 to December 2010). We searched reference lists of articles identified and contacted experts in the relevant disciplines.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the effect of increasing fluid intake in people with acute respiratory infections.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed the identified studies to determine eligibility for inclusion.

MAIN RESULTS

No RCTs assessing the effect of increasing fluid intake in acute respiratory infections were found.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is currently no evidence from RCTs for or against the recommendation to increase fluids in acute respiratory infections. The implications for fluid management of acute respiratory infections in the outpatient or primary care setting have not been studied in any RCTs to date. Some non-experimental (observational) studies report that increasing fluid intake in acute respiratory infections of the lower respiratory tract may cause harm. RCTs need to be done to determine the true effect of this very common medical advice.