Acute bacterial community-acquired pneumonia in children aged 1 month to 15 years in the pediatrics department of Gabriel Toure Teaching hospital

Introduction: Acute pneumonia is defined as inflammation of the alveoli and interstitial lung tissue, with respiratory signs and symptoms.1 The term community-acquired pneumonia is used when it develops outside the hospital setting. The aim of our study was to investigate acute community-acquired pneumonia in children aged 1 month to 15 years in the Gabriel Touré teaching hospital pediatric ward. Patients and methods : This was a prospective descriptive and analytical study conducted from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, including all children aged 1 month to 15 years hospitalized for acute bacterial community-acquired pneumonia. Results: We collected 211 patients out of a total of 6639 hospitalizations, or a frequency of 3.17%. The age range from 1 month to 12 months was the most represented (58.3%), the mean age was 18.08± 22.7 months with extremes of 1 and 180 months; the equal sex ratio was 1.13. Fathers were blue-collar workers in 33% of cases, and had unfavorable socioeconomic conditions in 62.6%. Respiratory distress was the most frequent reason for consultation (53.1%). Vaccination was correct in 78% of patients. Most patients (49.3%) consulted within the first week of onset of symptoms. Cough (47.9%) and dyspnoea (30.8%) were the main functional signs. The main signs of respiratory struggle were chest indrawing (43.8%) and nasal flaring (23.1%). Crackling rales (45.13%) were the most common physical sign, while severe acute malnutrition accounted for 27.5%. Hyperleukocytosis, predominantly neutrophilic, was found in 60.8% of patients, anemia in 92% and elevated CRP in 64.9%. HIV serology was positive in 7.1% of patients, and Acid-fast bacilli test were positive in sputum in 3.8%. Chest X-rays showed opacity in both lung fields in 28.4% of patients. Pneumonia was the main diagnosis (87.7%). Malnutrition (34.1%) and cardiac malformation (16.6%) were the pathologies most frequently associated with pneumonia. The antibiotic combination amoxicillin + clavulanic acid was the most widely used (82.9%). Hospitalization lasted from 4 to 9 days in 48.34% of cases. Pleurisy was the most frequent complication (4.74%). The mortality rate was high (18.4%), more than half of which occurred between 1 and 12 months of age (53.8%). Conclusion: Community-acquired pneumonia is common in the pediatric ward of Gabriel Toure teaching hospital. Despite the introduction of pneumococcal vaccine in routine vaccination.