Protracted bacterial bronchitis: new aspects of the problem based on сlinical recommendation of the Ministry of Health of Russian Federation

Abstract

In world pediatric practice, protracted bacterial bronchitis is the leading cause of chronic cough in preschool-age children. However, in Russia this nosology is not often diagnosed, and in real clinical practice children are observed for doubtful and ambiguous diagnoses. In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Health updated the clinical guidelines “Bronchitis” for pediatric age category with inclusion of protracted bacterial bronchitis in the list of bronchitis variants with designation of disease criteria: wet cough lasting at least 4 weeks, auscultatory symptoms of bronchitis in the absence of signs of chronic lung and bronchial pathology, cough relief after 2 weeks of therapy with an antibacterial drug active against H. influenzae, S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis. The article presents a review of the literature on protracted bacterial bronchitis in the historical aspect, and also reflects the criteria of the disease, epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, methods of examination. Particular attention is paid to the treatment and debatable scientific and practical issues in the study of protracted bacterial bronchitis in the light of the clinical guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. It is emphasized that the etiotropic treatment of protracted bacterial bronchitis is antibacterial therapy. The effectiveness of antibiotics for this disease has been proven in systematic reviews. Therapy is prescribed empirically. The first-line drugs of choice is oral amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. Preference is given to drugs in the form of dispersible tablets. The duration of therapy remains a subject of scientific debate. According to the clinical guidelines of the Russian Federation Ministry of Health, the course of treatment should not exceed 2 weeks, in case of ineffectiveness and/or relapse of protracted bacterial bronchitis, the course of antibiotic therapy may be prolonged to 4–6 weeks.