Epidemiological characteristics of children in hospital due to bronchiolitis during the 2009-2010 epidemic season

Abstract

Introduction.
Bronchiolitis is the main cause of hospitalization due to acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children under two years of age. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the predominant causal agent. The objective of this work is to describe the epidemiological characteristics of the group of children admitted for bronchiolitis in our center during the epidemic season 2009/2010.

Materials and Methods.
Patients selected for this study were under two years of age admitted to the pediatrics service, diagnosed with bronchiolitis between October 1st 2009 and March 31st 2010.

Results.
89 infants were admitted. 47 patients (52.8%) were younger than 3 months. The median age was 2 months (RQ = 1-7). 60.7% of patients were males and 19.1% were premature births. One or both of the parents were smokers in 47.6% of the cases. 73 patients (82.0%) were hospitalized one week or less. The RSV was detected in 61 cases (69.3%). This pathology represented 25.1% of the total admissions during the 6 months of study.

Conclusions.
Male and young infants (0-3 months) are predominant among those admitted. A significant percentage of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis are premature or of low birth weight. The RSV is the main pathogenic cause.  Bronchiolitis accounts for a significant percentage of the total admissions during the RSV epidemic season. Results are similar to those widely published in current literature