Management of non-pneumonic acute respiratory infection in children under 5 years old. Nazareth Hospital, Barranquilla,2012

Abstract

Background: Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of pediatric outpatient and emergency, which on average constitute 60% of consultations, being considered for several decades as a public health problem, being responsible for the deaths of about 4 million children a year, mostly in developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Objective: Determine the most common management of acute respiratory infections (non-pneumonic) in chil- dren from the age of two months to five years old. Methodology: We designed a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at the Nazareth Hospital in Barranquilla (Colombia). Sample of 50 patients, primary source information obtained by surveys, and secondary through medi- cal records. Results: We found that the most frequently used maneuvers were related to non-pharmacological measures for physicians and caregivers. For the common cold, pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment met equal per- centage; the pharmacological prevailed in otitis media, and non-pharmacological measures in addressing croup for both health professionals to caregivers, but the conservative management was done only by professionals traf- fickers (inhalers, intravenous fluids, epinephrine and oxygen). Excels the high percentage of cases where specific drugs are used, among other, as antibiotics, by 60% for sore throat physicians, and in the croup 40 % were treated with antibiotics for caregivers, demonstrating an inappropriate use of these drugs.