Prevalencia de neumonía adquirida en la comunidad en niños menores de 5 años en el Ecuador:

Abstract

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia is a pathology of infectious or non-infectious origin with an acute or chronic acquired nature, representing one of the main problems of Public Health in children under five years of age globally. Moreover, it constitutes the first cause of mortality due to acute infections in developing countries, and its prevalence is the object of study in health systems worldwide. Objective: To describe the prevalence of community-acquired pneumonia in Ecuador during the last five years, carrying out a systematic review as a contribution to child health. For the research development, publications were searched in databases such as PubMed, Scielo, Medes, Elsevier, and Medscape, and institutional consultation repositories including Space. Eligibility criteria: Scientific articles, clinical trials, and third and fourth-level degree projects published within the last five years, both in Spanish and English, were chosen. Study evaluation and abstract methods: Articles were evaluated using the PRISMA methodology. Results: From 282 publications found; 15 valid articles were selected. Limitations: The main limitation was the lack of global studies at the Ecuadorian level regarding pediatric community-acquired pneumonia; the articles considered for the critical review contain only local data. Conclusions: The prevalence of community-acquired pneumonia in pediatric ages reaches 21-65% of the hospital populations investigated. Keywords: Pneumonia, prevalence, pediatric, community.