Acute respiratory infections in children from a deprived urban population from Uruguay

Abstract

To obtain base line data on incidence, duration, clinical characteristics and etiology of acute respiratory infections (ARI), 276 children from deprived families living in Montevideo were followed during 32 months. The target population was divided into two groups for the analysis of the results: children aged less than 12 months and those older than this age. During the follow-up period 1.056 ARI episodes were recorded. ARI incidence was 5.2 per child/year. It was 87% higher in infants than in the older group, as was the duration of the episodes. Most of the diseases were mild. Tachypnea and retractions were seldom observed, but 12 children were refered to the hospital, and 2 infants died. Viral etiology was identified in 15.3% of the episodes. RSV was the predominant agent producing annual outbreaks. Moderate to heavy colonization of the upper respiratory tract by Streptococcus pneumoniae (32.3%) and Hemophilus sp. (18.9%) was recorded during ARI episodes. This community-based study furnish original data on ARI in Uruguay. It enabled to asses the impact of these infections on childhood.

A community‐based study of respiratory episodes in Melbourne, Australia

“…20 Numerous other studies from developing countries also show higher rates of ARI (3.7-14.9 per child/year). 6,7,[21][22][23] However, due to differences in design, demographics of the populations studied, def initions and classifications of respiratory illnesses, the period required between episodes, and the methods of surveillance employed, an y direct comparisons between these studies and ours is problematic. For example, we used the exact days on which symptoms were reported to determine the duration of an episode, whereas many other studies have reported symptoms in units of whole weeks.…”

Systematic review and meta‐analysis of respiratory syncytial virus infection epidemiology in Latin America

“…In Latin America (LA), epidemiological studies of respiratory viruses started at the end of the eighties following the introduction of rapid diagnosis by immunofluorescence to confirm cases. Several studies comprising important epidemiological data, seasonality, risk factors, and clinical presentation of the disease were performed in Argentina , Chile , Uruguay , and Brazil before 2000. During the past decade, other countries in the region incorporated the virological diagnosis of respiratory infections, mainly after influenza laboratory based passive surveillance started.…”