Application of the Clinical Score of Bacterial Pneumonia, to Determine Etiological Suspect in Children from 3 Months to 5 Years with Community Acquired Pneumonia

Abstract

Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in pediatric age, the etiological diagnosis is important to establish an effective and timely treatment. The unavailability of the necessary tests to determine the specific etiology, in this study The clinical prediction score for bacterial pneumonia was applied to determine suspected etiology and thus carry out the initial management of children with community-acquired pneumonia between the ages of 3 months to 5 years admitted to the pediatric service of the Pablo Jaramillo Humanitarian Specialized Hospital. Crespo, March - July 2019. It is a descriptive, prospective study, carried out with a sample of 73 children. As a result, it was obtained that 60% of the children had an etiological suspicion of bacterial pneumonia and 40% viral pneumonia. The clinical manifestations were more evident in patients with suspected bacterial pneumonia, mainly fever. The clinical evolution was favorable in all the patients, which agrees with the etiological suspicion determined by the clinical prediction score for pneumonia and the pertinent treatment instituted on admission. The application of this score is a feasible, fast and reliable tool to determine initial treatment in a hospitalized patient with community-acquired pneumonia.