Dhruba Shrestha
Siddhi Memorial Women and Children Hospital, Nepal
Title: Incidence and clinical profile of pneumonia in children before and after the introduction of PCV-10 vaccination in Bhaktapur, Nepal
Biography
Biography: Dhruba Shrestha
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is considered as the leading cause of Pneumonia, Meningitis, Otitis media, Sinusitis and Septicaemia. WHO also estimates that 1 in every 20 children below 5 years of age will have an episode of pneumonia each year. S pneumoniae is the most important cause of pneumonia in young children. Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) have shown efficacy against several serotypes of S. pneumoniae and it is now part of routine immunization schedule in many countries, including Nepal. PCV-10 was first introduced in Nepal on 18th January 2015 and is now included in National Immunization Schedule at 6 weeks, 10 week and 9 month of age.
This was a retrospective study conducted in the pediatric unit of Siddhi Memorial Women and Children’s Hospital. Data was reviewed from January 2014 to December 2018. There were altogether 601 children admitted due to pneumonia in the study period after exclusion 593 cases were eligible for analysis. 63% had diffuse involvement of lung in X-ray. PCV 10 was introduced in our hospital in October 2015 and there is significant decrease in the admission due to pneumonia after its introduction.
Most commonly used antibiotics were Crystalline Penicillin and Cefotaxime for treatment and both were equally efficacious. Failure rates were 8% and 1% respectively. To conclude, PCV is a very effective vaccine for S. pneumoniae. There has been dramatic decrease in the incidence of pneumonia since its introduction. Penicillin is still an effective drug for treatment of pneumonia.