Vacinas e o trato respiratório: o que devemos saber?

Abstract

ResumoObjetivo: o presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar uma revisão acerca das principais vacinas utilizadas na população pediá-trica, com impacto direto na prevenção dos processos infecciosos infantis do trato respiratório. Fontes dos dados:foram analisadas informações de artigos publicados em revistas científicas nacionais e internacionais, selecionados por busca direta ou por pesquisa nas bases de dados Lilacs e Medline.Síntese dos dados: o artigo foi estruturado em tópicos, apresentando questões relativas à imunização contra os patógenos freqüen-tes do trato respiratório em humanos, como Haemophilus influenza, vírus influenza, vírus respiratório sincicial e Streptococcus pneumoniae.Conclusões: a prevenção de doenças respiratórias, através de imunização, constitui-se numa das principais medidas para controle das infecções respiratórias. O acesso da população a estas novas vacinas, principalmente contra Haemophilus influenza, o que já ocorre há alguns anos com reconhecida eficácia, e agora contra o Streptococcus pneumoniae (vacina heptavalente) apontam para uma nova perspectiva, direcionada para o manejo da doença respiratória infantil. Em populações de risco, o controle da doença de etiologia viral através da imunização de forma ativa contra o vírus influenza, e de forma passiva para o vírus respiratório sincicial, também constituem medidas eficazes na redução da doença respiratória.J Pediatr (Rio J) 2002; 78 (Supl.2): S195-S204:vacinas, Haemophilus influenza, vírus influenza, vírus respiratório sincicial, Streptococcus pneumoniae. AbstractObjective: this article aims at presenting a review of the main vaccines used in the pediatric population with direct impact on the prevention of infectious processes of the respiratory tract in children.Sources: data from articles published in national and international scientific journals. The data were selected by means of direct search or search in the Lilacs and Medline databases. Summary of the findings: this article was structured in topics, presenting issues related to immunization against frequent pathogens of the respiratory tract in human beings: Haemophilus influenza, influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae.Conclusions: the prevention of respiratory diseases through immunization is one of the main measures for the control of respiratory infection. These new vaccines, especially against Haemophilus influenza, have been available for some years with acknowledged efficacy. Now, the vaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae (heptavalent vaccine) leads to a new perspective towards the management of respiratory diseases in children. In risk populations, the control of viral diseases through immunization, actively against the influenza virus and passively against the syncytial respiratory virus, is also an efficient measure to reduce respiratory disease.J Pediatr (Rio J) 2002; 78 (Supl.2) IntroduçãoÉ de todos conhecida a importância dos problemas infecciosos virais e bacterianos que acometem as vias aéreas superior e inferior. Sã...

Clinical-epidemiological evaluation of respiratory syncytial virus infection in children attended in a public hospital in midwestern Brazil

“…Furthermore, the slightly higher incidence of RSV infections in males that we found (52.6%) had also been reported previously [7,8,14,15]. RSV has been referred to as the main agent responsible for severe symptoms, such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia [2,4,13], especially during the first year of life [8,10,12,16]. In our study, 54% of the children that tested positive for RSV had bronchiolitis and pneumonia and 90% were younger than one year old, suggesting that illnesses caused by RSV might be severe for these children and thus require a fast and effective medical intervention.…”

“…It has been suggested that upon completion of the second year of life RSV has infected virtually all children at least once and 10-20% of them would have been reinfected [9]. Moreover, in the United States, RSV is responsible for 1% child hospitalization, 70% of which during the first year of life [10]. In São Paulo state, www.bjid.com.br from 1979 to 1993, respiratory infections were responsible for 18.4% of deaths in children younger than five years old [11].…”

“…Although RSV may cause severe infections in healthy young children, the infections are more severe in premature children, in those with immune deficiency, and in those with a subjacent illness, such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia or congenital heart disease [15,22,23]. Other risk factors for RSV infections include early weaning, exposition to cigarette smoke, age younger than six months, another sibling attending school or pre-school living in the same house, low social-economic status, being of black race and being male [10].…”