ABSTRACT
Las infecciones respiratorias agudas son un complejo sindromático de entidades clínicas, con diversidad epidemiológica y causal; causa más común de consulta médica pediátrica y de hospitalización. El objetivo fue caracterizar el comportamiento de las infecciones respiratorias agudas en pacientes pediátricos menores de 5 años ingresados en el Hospital Provincial Pediátrico Docente Pepe Portilla, Pinar del Río, durante el último semestre del año 2013. Se realizó una investigación observacional descriptiva y transversal. La muestra fue constituida por 88 pacientes pediátricos menores de 5 años. Se calcularon estadígrafos de tendencia central para expresar el comportamiento de variable cuantitativa. El sexo masculino reporta mayor frecuencia de infecciones respiratorias agudas. La lactancia materna no arrojó datos significativos, pero se observó una mayor incidencia de neumonías y bronconeumonía en pacientes que no la practicaban. La mayoría de los pacientes con enfermedades respiratorias agudas fueron niños entre 1 y 2 años. Los antecedentes patológicos personales y familiares de alergia y asma bronquial son importantes en la aparición de las enfermedades respiratorias agudas. Se hace necesario desarrollar acciones de promoción y prevención de salud para disminuir la incidencia de factores de riesgo y aparición de las infecciones respiratorias agudas en pacientes menores de 5 años, así como implementar algunas estrategias para reducir la morbilidad y mortalidad por estas enfermedades(AU)
Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) constitute a complex gamut of clinical features, with epidemiological and causal diversity, a most common cause for children medical consultation and for hospitalization. The objective was to characterize the behavior of ARIs in pediatric patients under 5 years of age admitted to Pepe Portilla Children Province Hospital of Pinar de Río Province, during the last semester of the year 2013. An observation, descriptive and cross-sectional research was carried out, with a sample constituted by 88 pediatric patients under five years of age. Statistic values of central tendency were calculated to express quantitative variable behavior.Results: the male sex reported a higher frequency of ARIs. Maternal breastfeeding did not show significant data, but a higher incidence was observed in pneumonia and bronchopneumonia. Most of the patients with ARIs were children aged between one and two years. Individual and family pathological history of allergy and bronchial asthma are important in the onset of AIRs. It is necessary to develop actions of health promotion and prevention to decrease the incidence of risk factor and the onset of ARIs in patient under five years of age, as well as to implement some strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality on this diseases(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Infant , Child, Preschool , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Observational Studies as Topic , Epidemiology, DescriptiveABSTRACT
This article describes a novel industrial procedure for producing new pitches of low toxicity from anthracene oil, a byproduct of coal tar distillation. The procedure involves oxidative treatment in order to polymerize and condense the anthracene oil components followed by thermal treatment and distillation in order to obtain a pitch with the desired parameters. This sequence (oxidative treatment/thermal treatment/distillation) was repeated four times under reaction conditions of increasing severity in four cycles of anthracene oil processing to obtain the four pitches. The pitches had similar characteristics to those of standard binder coal tar pitches (e.g., softening point and wetting capacity). Because of the inherent composition of the parent anthracene oil, the pitches were found to be totally free of solid particles, i.e., primary quinoline insolubles and metals. The gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy results revealed a consecutive decrease in toxicity with successive cycles of anthracene oil processing. Thus, the benzo[a]pyrene content decreased from 11.2 mg/g for the pitch in cycle one to 1.5 mg/g for the pitch with four processing cycles. The carcinogenicity of the pitches, evaluated on the basis of benzo[a]pyrene toxic equivalency factors, also followed the same tendency. The final carcinogenity values are nearly all lower than those of standard binder coal tar pitches.
