from NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
The annual hospitalization rate for community-acquired pneumonia in children is 15.7 cases per 10,000, according to a prospective population-based study that found the hospitalization burden was greatest in those aged under 5 years.
The multicenter EPIC study of 2,358 children hospitalized with pneumonia showed that about half had an underlying condition such as asthma or reactive airways disease, according to a paper published online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A pathogen was detected in 81% of cases, the most common of which were respiratory syncytial virus (28%) – most prevalent in children aged under 2 years – human rhinovirus (27%), human metapneumovirus (13%), adenovirus (11%), and Mycoplasma pneumoniae (8%) (N. Engl. J. Med. 2015;372:835-45.
“The burden of community-acquired pneumonia in children was associated with multiple different and codetected pathogens, underscoring a need for the enhancement of sensitive, inexpensive, and rapid diagnostic tests to accurately identify pneumonia pathogens,” wrote Dr. Seema Jain of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and associates.
The CDC supported the study. Several authors reported grants and personal fees from the CDC and from the pharmaceutical industry, and one reported a patent relating to a reovirus vaccine.
