ACUTE PNEUMONIA IN CHILDREN

Department of pediatrics

ACUTE PNEUMONIA IN CHILDREN

• Pneumonia is an inflammation of the parenchyma of the lung,

• Incidence 0.026 episodes per child/year in USA,

• 0.28 episodes per child/year in developed countries

SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS • Raised respiratory rate

- 50 per minute or more if child 2mo up to 12mo;- 40 per minute or more if child 12 mo up to 5 yr- 30 per minute or more if child above 5 yr

• Stridor in calm child or wheezing• Fever >37.5o• Dry cough or production of sputum• Worse signs:• the child is not able to drink or feeding wall, vomit everything, is lethargic or

had convulsions• Focal chest signs- chest indrawing

- decreased expansion- dullness on percussion- bronchial breathing- pleural chest pain in older children

ETIOLOGY

• Viruses: influenza A and B, RS, adenovirus, parainfluenza

• Gram + bacteria: Str.pneumoniae, Str.pyogenes, Staph.aureus

• Gram- bacteria: H.influenzae, Kl.pneumoniae, Ps.aeruginosa, Morax. catarrhalis, Neis. meningitides, E.coli, Proteus, Enterobacter.

• Atypical nonbacterial bacilli: Mycoplasma or Chlamydia pneumoniae,Legionella (acquired by breathing droplets or contaminated water)

• Specific pneumonia in infants: aspiration (diminished gag reflex), gastroesophagal reflux, heart defects, genetic disorders, asthma, impaired immune system.

CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS • History- recent respiratory infection, exposure to people with

pneumonia, fever, acute or persistent cough, dry/productive, related to feeding (aspiration), choking/ staccato/paroxysmal (foreign body aspiration, pertussis).

• Worse signs: not able to drink or feeding, vomit everything, is lethargic or had convulsions

• Physical examination-confusions, abnormally sleepy, cyanosis, fast breathing, nasal flaring, respiratory distress, grunting, stridor, wheezing;- vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain in paralytic ileus; - dullness on percussion: -consolidation or pleural effusion, empyema;- auscultation- rales, crackles, crepitations, rhonchi (rumblings).- clinical signs that predict death in children:worse signs, prolonged illness, severe X-ray changes, cyanosis, leukocytosis, hepatomegaly.

PNEUMONIA- DIAGNOSIS • Chest X-ray confirms pneumonia and pleural effusion or empyema

- Confluent lobar consolidation is typically in pneumococcal causes - Viral pneumonia- hyperinflation with bilateral interstitial infiltrates

• Bronchoscopy, USG, CT scan in malformation or tumors• WBC in viral pneumonia are normal or <15,000/ml, with lymphocyte

rises; in bacterial WBC>20,000/ml, granulocyte rises• Atypical pneumonia: a higher WBC, ESR and C-reactive protein• DNA, RNA, antibodies tests for the rapid detection of viruses• PCR test or seroconversion in an IgG assay• Serologic evidence of the ASL-O• Serum IgE in recurrent wheezing• Isolation of the bacteria from the blood, pleural fluid or lung• Culture of sputum and susceptibility of the antibiotics• Urinary antigen test positive

PNEUMONIA -TREATMENT

ANTIBIOTIS:1.Penicillins and betalactams: Amoxycillin, Amoxi/Clav,

Sulbactam2.Cephalosporines- Cefazolin, Cefuroxim, Ceftriaxon,

Ceftazidizime3.Penems- Imipenem/Cilastatin, Meropenem, Ertapenem4.Quinolones-Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Moxifloxacin,

Gatifloxacin- more effective in Gram- bacteria5.In atypical pneumonia – macrolides: Clarithromycin,

Roxithromycin, Azithromycin (7.5-15mg/kg/day)6.Aminoglycosides- dosage according to age, weight and

kidney function (Gentamicin, Tobramycin, Amikacin)7.In viral pneumonia treatment withhold antibiotics

SUPPORTIVE TREATMENT

1. good hydration, cough remedies, antipyretics, oxygen in the central cyanosis or worse signs

2. For children with wheeze- rapid acting bronchodilator(Salbutamol)

3. Drainage with tube in empyema, fibrinolytic therapy: urokinase, streptokinase, alteplase

4. Indications for hospitalization: age <6mo, persistent fever, worse signs, severe respiratory distress, toxic appearance, no response to antibiotic

RESPONSE TO TREATMENT

• The factors then patients leads to “Slowly resolving pneumonia”:

1. complications such as empyema2 .bacterial resistance 3.viral causes, foreign

bodies or food aspiration4. bronchial obstruction 5.pre-existing

immunodeficiencies6. cyliary dyskinesia, cystic fibrosis, other

noninfectious causes. The first step- repeat chest X-ray

COMPLICATIONS

● The result of direct spread in the thoracic cavity: pleural effusion, empyema, pneumothorax, pericarditis

● Hematologic spread:sepsis, meningitis, arthritis, osteomyelitis

PREVENTION OF PNEUMONIA

● Immunization against H. influenzae type b

● Influenza vaccine

● Heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine

● Health education of the community

● Messages for mothers to recognize the signs of pneumonia

REFERENCES

1.Nelson textbook of pediatrics, 18-th edition, 2007, p.1795-1800

2.Dr Herman Laferi-Community acquired pneumonia, diagnosis, treatment, Satellite Symposium “Update in Infectious Pathology”, 2006, Chisinau

3.Technical bases for WHO recommendations on the management of pneumonia in children at first-level health facilities, Geneva, 2001