Published Date: 2012-12-05 16:19:10
Subject: PRO/EDR> Pneumonia - Nepal: (UD) children, RFI
Archive Number: 20121205.1439452
PNEUMONIA - NEPAL: (UDAYAPUR), CHILDREN, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2012
Source: The Himalayan [edited]
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fu...+the+beginning+of+winter+season&NewsID=356069
Pneumonia is on the rise in Udayapur district due to cold weather for the past few days. Pneumonia has been seen in children in Triyuga Municipality and in Beltar, in the eastern part of the district.
According to employees at Beltar Primary Health Center, some 50 children from Beltar with pneumonia visited local health institutions for treatment within the past week.
Janak Karki of the Sagarmatha Higher Secondary School said that most of the students at the school have been suffering from pneumonia due to increasing cold weather and have remained absent from school. District Public Health Officer Duniyalal Yadav said that a number of children who were suffering from pneumonia visited the District Hospital in Udayapur for treatment.
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Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>
[From the news report above, there has been an apparent increase in the incidence of "pneumonia" in children as winter approaches in a Nepalese district, although the ages of the children are not specified. There are no deaths reported for this outbreak.
In developed countries, because of the non-specific nature of the clinical presentation, the diagnosis of pneumonia is usually confirmed by a chest radiograph. In resource-limited settings where radiography is often not available, the World Health Organization (WHO) established guidelines that rely on simple clinical signs for the diagnosis of childhood pneumonia (WHO recommended surveillance standards. 2nd ed. (WHO/CDS/ISR/99.2) World Health Organization, Geneva). The World Health Organization has defined pneumonia in children clinically based on either a cough or difficulty breathing and a rapid respiratory rate, chest indrawing, or a decreased level of consciousness, but these WHO clinical criteria for pneumonia have been reported to demonstrate poor sensitivity in diagnosing radiographic pneumonia in children presenting to a pediatric emergency department (Wingerter SL, Bachur RG, Monuteaux MC, Neuman MI. Application of the World Health Organization Criteria to Predict Radiographic Pneumonia in a US-based Pediatric Emergency Department. Pediatr Infect Dis J. Jun 2012;31(6):561-4.)
In the absence of laboratory diagnostics, it is difficult to assess this situation. The microbial etiologies of pneumonia in childhood are numerous and vary to some extent by the age of the children involved, the season of the year, and the geographic location.
Bacterial causes of childhood pneumonia include _Streptococcus pneumoniae_, _Hemophilus influenzae_, _Staphylococcus aureus_, _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_, and _Chlamydophila pneumoniae_. However, most lower respiratory tract disease in children is viral in origin. These respiratory viruses include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza types 1, 2, and 3, influenza A and B, adenovirus, and human metapneumovirus (hMPV). RSV infection occurs in the winter and early spring. Parainfluenza type 3 infection occurs in the spring, and types 1 and 2 occur in the fall. Influenza occurs in the winter. Other viruses that cause pneumonia less frequently in infants and young children include adenovirus, enterovirus, rhinovirus, and coronavirus. One or more of these viruses could be involved in the Nepalese outbreak. More detailed clinical, epidemiologic and microbiologic information would be needed to clarify the situation.
Udayapur district, with a population (in 2001) of 287 689, is one of the 75 districts of Nepal. For a map of Nepal on which Udayapur can be located, see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Udayapur_district_location.png.
Subject: PRO/EDR> Pneumonia - Nepal: (UD) children, RFI
Archive Number: 20121205.1439452
PNEUMONIA - NEPAL: (UDAYAPUR), CHILDREN, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
****************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
Date: Fri 30 Nov 2012
Source: The Himalayan [edited]
http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fu...+the+beginning+of+winter+season&NewsID=356069
Pneumonia is on the rise in Udayapur district due to cold weather for the past few days. Pneumonia has been seen in children in Triyuga Municipality and in Beltar, in the eastern part of the district.
According to employees at Beltar Primary Health Center, some 50 children from Beltar with pneumonia visited local health institutions for treatment within the past week.
Janak Karki of the Sagarmatha Higher Secondary School said that most of the students at the school have been suffering from pneumonia due to increasing cold weather and have remained absent from school. District Public Health Officer Duniyalal Yadav said that a number of children who were suffering from pneumonia visited the District Hospital in Udayapur for treatment.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail from HealthMap Alerts
<promed@promedmail.org>
[From the news report above, there has been an apparent increase in the incidence of "pneumonia" in children as winter approaches in a Nepalese district, although the ages of the children are not specified. There are no deaths reported for this outbreak.
In developed countries, because of the non-specific nature of the clinical presentation, the diagnosis of pneumonia is usually confirmed by a chest radiograph. In resource-limited settings where radiography is often not available, the World Health Organization (WHO) established guidelines that rely on simple clinical signs for the diagnosis of childhood pneumonia (WHO recommended surveillance standards. 2nd ed. (WHO/CDS/ISR/99.2) World Health Organization, Geneva). The World Health Organization has defined pneumonia in children clinically based on either a cough or difficulty breathing and a rapid respiratory rate, chest indrawing, or a decreased level of consciousness, but these WHO clinical criteria for pneumonia have been reported to demonstrate poor sensitivity in diagnosing radiographic pneumonia in children presenting to a pediatric emergency department (Wingerter SL, Bachur RG, Monuteaux MC, Neuman MI. Application of the World Health Organization Criteria to Predict Radiographic Pneumonia in a US-based Pediatric Emergency Department. Pediatr Infect Dis J. Jun 2012;31(6):561-4.)
In the absence of laboratory diagnostics, it is difficult to assess this situation. The microbial etiologies of pneumonia in childhood are numerous and vary to some extent by the age of the children involved, the season of the year, and the geographic location.
Bacterial causes of childhood pneumonia include _Streptococcus pneumoniae_, _Hemophilus influenzae_, _Staphylococcus aureus_, _Mycoplasma pneumoniae_, and _Chlamydophila pneumoniae_. However, most lower respiratory tract disease in children is viral in origin. These respiratory viruses include respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), parainfluenza types 1, 2, and 3, influenza A and B, adenovirus, and human metapneumovirus (hMPV). RSV infection occurs in the winter and early spring. Parainfluenza type 3 infection occurs in the spring, and types 1 and 2 occur in the fall. Influenza occurs in the winter. Other viruses that cause pneumonia less frequently in infants and young children include adenovirus, enterovirus, rhinovirus, and coronavirus. One or more of these viruses could be involved in the Nepalese outbreak. More detailed clinical, epidemiologic and microbiologic information would be needed to clarify the situation.
Udayapur district, with a population (in 2001) of 287 689, is one of the 75 districts of Nepal. For a map of Nepal on which Udayapur can be located, see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Udayapur_district_location.png.