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Background: Frequency of nutritional rickets, its clinicobiochemical profile and its relationship to the lower respiratory tract infections in indoor patients from 2 to 60 months of age.Methods: Children aged 2 to 60 months admitted for the first time were included in the study and divided into two groups i.e. with and without clinical signs of rickets. Disease profile was studied in both groups. Incidence of lower respiratory tract infection was compared between two groups. Children with clinicoradiological signs of rickets were also investigated for biochemical abnormalities.Results: During the one year study period a total of 393 children were admitted, 65 were found to have rickets constituted as study group and 328 were without rickets were included the controls. Rickets incidence was 16.5% of which majority (74.6%) were males and most rachitic children (64.6%) were below six months of age. Acute lower respiratory tract infection (64.6%) was commonest in study group and acute gastroenteritis (24.4%) in the controls. The rate of ALRTI was nearly three times in study group. Frontal bossing (67.7%) was most common sign of rickets and increased alkaline phosphatase (93.8%) was the commonest biochemical abnormality.Conclusions: Nutritional rickets, a multifactorial disease, is easily preventable. The present study has revealed the high incidence of rickets i. e., 16.5% and also show the strong statistically significant association of nutritional rickets with acute lower respiratory tract infections.
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Objective To determine the clinical characteristics of acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRIs)induced wheezing,and to explore the impact of wheezing ALRIs on the subsequent respiratory diseases and lung function. Methods A total of 1726 hospitalized infants who were diagnosed with ALRIs in Children′s Hospital of Fudan University between March 2011 and February 2012 were enrolled and classified into wheezing group and non -wheezing group. Data were collected regarding demographic characteristics,family status,clinical presentations,respira-tory pathogens,and pulmonary function tests (PFTs). Subjects were followed up with questionnaires in 6 months and 1 year after discharge. PFTs were performed in 50 wheezing infants at 6 months after discharge. Results In the 1726 hospitalized infants,471 cases had a wheezing episode (27. 3％). The majority (262 / 471 cases,55. 6％)of infants with wheezing were reported with a family history of atopy. The total detection rate of viruses in wheezing group was 73. 7％ . The detection rate of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)in wheezing group was higher than that of non-whee-zing group (68. 6％ vs. 47. 0％),and the difference was significant (P < 0. 001). For infants less than 3 months,the wheezing group had less time to peak tidal expiratory flow as a percentage of total expiratory time (TPTEF/ TE)and volume to peak tidal expiratory flow as a percentage of total expiratory volume (VPTEF/ VE),compared with the non -wheezing group [(22. 9 ± 9. 8)％ vs. (29. 2 ± 12. 3)％ and (25. 7 ± 8. 0)％ vs. (29. 8 ± 9. 6)％,respectively],and the differences were significant (all P < 0. 05). After 6 months,the wheezing group increased TPTEF/ TE and VPTEF/VE [(24. 0 ± 9. 0)％ vs. (19. 9 ± 6. 7)％,(25. 8 ± 7. 0)％ vs. (23. 2 ± 5. 0)％,respectively],and the differences were significant (all P < 0. 05),but still below normal level. Patients with wheezing were more likely to develop subse-quent wheezing during the following 1 year (20. 0％ vs. 10. 6％),and the difference was significant (P < 0. 001). Conclusion Wheezing in infants with ALRIs is related to family history of atopy and viral infections,especially to RSV. Hospitalization for wheezing ALRIs is associated with impaired lung function and a higher frequency of subsequent wheezing.
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Human coronavirus (HCoV) NL63, a newly discovered coronavirus, has been associated with acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI). We detected HCoV-NL63 via reverse transcriptional PCR (RT-PCR) in eight out of 878 respiratory specimens freshly collected from hospitalized children with ALRTI between April 2006 and March 2008 in Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. Peak of HCoV-NL63 activity often appeared during the summer and autumn in Chongqing area. All children with HCoV-NL63 infection were <1 year of age. The diagnosis included bronchial pneumonia, bronchitis, interstitial pneumonia and bronchiolitis. All children recovered.
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Objective: To determine the association between acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) and exclusive breast feeding practices in children younger than five years of age Design: Case control study Setting: Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo. Method: Breast feeding practices in children younger than five years of age admitted with ALRI were compared with that of age and gender matched controls. An interviewer administered structured pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Results: One hundred and four cases and controls were studied; 53% of cases were exclusively breast fed for four or more months compared to 68% of controls (odds-ratio 2). Of the 14 cases with severe ALRI, 14% were exclusively breast fed for four or more months compared to 56% in non severe ALRI cases (odds-ratio 7.5). Proportion of children exclusively breast fed for four or more months was significantly lower (p < 0.001) in cases who had previous hospital admissions for ALRI (31% against 62%). Conclusions: This study provides further evidence that exclusive breast feeding has protective effect on occurrence, severity and recurrence of ALRI in young children.
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0.05 ), bacterial clearance were 100% and 90%, and adverse reaction rates were 10%(2/20)and 10.53 % ( 2/19 ), respectively. All those adverse reactions were mainly gastrointestinal tract reactions. The abnormality of laboratory inspections associated with trial drugs happened to 4 and 5 patients in two groups. The reactions were mostly light increase of aminotransferase without effect on therapy. CONCLUSION: Gatifloxacin is an antibiotic with large antimicrobial spectrum and can be recommended to treat light to moderate acute lower respiratory tract infections.
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PURPOSE: Although annual epidemics occur, there are only a few clinical studies on influenza in Korea. We evaluated the epidemic and clinical features of acute lower respiratory tract infections in children by influenza virus. METHODS: From Feb., 1995 to July, 1997, influenza virus isolations and clinical review were performed on hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract infections at Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital. RESULTS: The influenza virus was isolated in 34 out of 545 (6.2%) patients examined. The number of influenza A and B viruses isolated were as follows : 0 and 2 from Feb. to March, 1995, 8 and 1 from Nov., 1995 to May, 1996, and 15 and 9 from Dec., 1996 to June, 1997. The patients were 27 boys and 7 girls with a mean age of 27.6 +/- 25.1 months. Eight patients (23.5%) had preceding underlying diseases such as asthma, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and ventricular septal defect (VSD) with Down syndrome. Three out of twenty-two patients surveyed had been vaccinated against influenza virus before infection. The acute lower respiratory tract infections diagnosed were pneumonia in 11, bronchiolitis in 9, croup in 8, and tracheobronchitis in 6 patients. Fever, cough, and rhinorrhea developed in all patients and fever continued for a mean 5.5 +/- 4.0 days. All patients recovered without antiviral treatment except one expired case with penumonia/VSD/Down syndrome. CONCLUSION: Acute lower respiratory tract infections caused by influenza virus developed every winter and spring during the period of the study. Influenza vaccination before epidemic season should be encouraged in risky patients.