Study of the Etiology of Acute Respiratory Infections in Children Under 5 Years at the Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital, Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde.

Wilson Correia,Isabel Inês M. de Pina-Araújo,Basilio Valladares,Carmen de Jesús Borges Almeida Semedo,Roberto Dorta-Guerra,Mitza Sanches,Emma Carmelo

doi:10.3389/fped.2021.716351

Wilson Correia, Isabel Inês M. de Pina-Araújo + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2021.716351

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Abstract

Background: Acute respiratory infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years in developing countries and are a challenge for the health system of these countries. In Cabo Verde, despite the lack of recent studies, data indicate that it affects thousands of children, being the fourth leading cause of infant mortality in 2013. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the etiological agents associated with acute respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years old, and their associated risk factors, such as clinical symptoms or socio-demographic characteristics.Methods: Naso-pharyngeal samples were collected from children under 5 years attending at Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital (Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde) with suspected ARI at different time-points during 2019. Samples were analyzed using FilmArray® Respiratory Panel v. 2.0 Plus to identify etiological agents of ARI. A questionnaire with socio-demographic information was also collected for each participant. Data analyses were carried out using the IBM SPSS version 25 (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY) and R 3.5.1 statistical software.Results: A total of 129 naso-pharyngeal samples were included in the study. Seventeen different etiologic agents of respiratory infections were identified. HRV/EV was the most frequent agent detected, followed by FluA H3 and RSV. Coinfection with two or more pathogens was detected in up to 20% of positive samples. The results were analyzed in terms of age-group, sex, period of the year and other social and demographic factors.Conclusion: Viruses are the main causative agents of ARI in children <5 years attending at the pediatrics service at the Dr. Agostinho Neto Hospital in Praia city, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde. Some factors are described in this study as statistically associated with the presence of an infectious agent, such as having one or more children sharing the bedroom with an adult and the presence of some clinical symptoms. The data addresses the need for studies on respiratory tract infections in Cabo Verde.

Highlights

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are defined as infections in the respiratory tract, resulting in obstruction of the air passage at the nasal and/or bronchial system, causing a spectrum of manifestations, from acute symptoms, like common colds, to more serious conditions such as pneumonia or lung collapse [1]
The aim of this study was to identify the etiological agents associated with acute respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years at Dr Agostinho Neto Hospital (Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde) and the clinical symptoms associated with this infection
To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the role of 21 respiratory pathogens in children

Summary

Introduction

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are defined as infections in the respiratory tract (lower and/or upper), resulting in obstruction of the air passage at the nasal and/or bronchial system, causing a spectrum of manifestations, from acute symptoms, like common colds, to more serious conditions such as pneumonia or lung collapse [1]. Among ARI, infections of the upper respiratory tract are the most frequent, but the majority of respiratory deaths are attributed to acute lower respiratory infections [5, 6]. Both bacteria and viruses have been identified as the agents of ARI, it is known that 90% of these infections have viral origin [2, 7]. Acute respiratory infections are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years in developing countries and are a challenge for the health system of these countries. The aim of this study was to identify and describe the etiological agents associated with acute respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years old, and their associated risk factors, such as clinical symptoms or socio-demographic characteristics

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