Etiological factors and clinical profile of acute respiratory distress in children age group 2 months to 2 years and prevalence of respiratory syncytial virus in the study population

Background: Acute lower respiratory tract infections are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Respiratory infections in infants and small children are of great importance because of small airways. Infection may cause a further narrowing and may lead to respiratory distress. To evaluate the etiological factors, clinical profile and outcome of acute respiratory distress in the age group 2 months to 2 years.Methods: This study was conducted in the Paediatric department of Government Mohan Kumarmangalam medical college hospital, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India in the year September 2017-March 2018. Totally 183 cases of acute respiratory distress children were included in the study. A thorough clinical examination was done at the time of admission and management details were recorded into the proforma. Respiratory distress is defined as per WHO protocol as respiratory rate more than 50/minute in infants from 2 months to 12 months of age, and more than 40/minute in children from 13 months to 24 months of age.Results: Of the 72 cases of bronchiolitis, 32 cases (44%) tested positive for IgM at the time of admission and no cases in the control population tested positive for IgM. Of the 72 cases of bronchiolitis in the study population, 52 cases (72%) tested positive for ELISA IgG at the time of admission and 2 cases among the controls tested positive for ELISA IgG.Conclusions: Pneumonia was the most common cause of respiratory illness in the study population. Overcrowding was the major risk factor contributing to acute respiratory illness. Incidence of acute respiratory distress was high among undernourished children.