Clinical study of recurrent respiratory tract illness among pediatric patients

Abstract

Background: Pediatric respiratory tract illness is one of the most common reasons for physician visits and hospitalization and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Respiratory illnesses are common and frequent and present on EOF the major complaints in children and adolescents. Respiratory illness, mainly involving the upper airways, are common in children and their recurrence constitutes a demanding challenge for the paediatricians. There are many children suffering from so called recurrent respiratory illness (RRI). The objective was to study recurrent respiratory tract illness among pediatric patients Methods: A Hospital based cross sectional study was carried out from March 2013 to February 2014 among 99 children aged between 6 months to 5 years of age at Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Informed consent and approval of institutional ethical committee was taken prior to the study. Children with age less than 6 months and more than 5 years, children with congenital heart disease, children with cerebral palsy, and children with proven immunodeficiency disorder were excluded from the study. All parents were asked a detailed history of the child. Complete clinical examination was done for all children. They were subjected to blood investigations. Results: Elevation of serum IgE levels was more (78.04%) in not exclusively breast fed as compared to those who were exclusively breast feed (27.58%) with p value of 0-0001. Out of 48 children with elevated serum IgE levels, 46 (53.48%) were born at term gestation and only 2 (15.38%) were preterm. This was statistically significant with p value of 0.01. Serum IgE levels were significantly elevated in 85% of children with family history of recurrent respiratory tract illnesses with p value of 0.001. 50% children with elevated eosinophils had elevated serum IgE levels with p value 0.93 which was not significant. Conclusions: There was a significant role of family history of recurrent respiratory tract illness in children with elevated serum IgE levels. Serum IgE levels were elevated in 50% of the children with increased Eosinophils, but there was no significant correlation of percentage of Eosinophils and serum IgE levels.