Burden of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections as Seen in University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital Nigeria

Abstract

Acute respiratory infections (ARI) particularly lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) are the leading cause of death among children under five years of age. ARI is estimated to account for approximately 4 million deaths annually with more than two third of these deaths occurring in Africa. Despite its importance in regard to morbidity as well as childhood mortality, the epidemiology particularly in Africa and Port Harcourt, remains understudied, hence the need for this study. This study therefore aims to describe the burden of acute respiratory infections as seen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. This was a retrospective review of all cases of ARI seen at the ARI clinic of the department of Paediatrics, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital from January 2010 to November 2011. Information on demographic data, diagnosis, month and year of presentation at the ARI clinic was retrieved from the nurse's clinic records and analysed using Statistical package for Social Sciences version 15. Descriptive statistics was used and presented in simple frequencies and in tables. There were a total of 3477 cases of ARI seen at the ARI clinic during this period, 1910 (54.9%) males and 1523 (43.8%) female. M: F ratio was 1.3:1. The highest incidence of ARI was in the month of July 373 (10.7%), which is the peak of the rainy season. The commonest ARI seen was cough and catarrh no pneumonia accounting for 2342 cases (67.4%), followed by tonsillitis 829 (23.8%) and pneumonia 229 (6.6%). Malaria was the most common associated condition 128 (3.7%). Over 90% of them were under-fives, with 60% of these being infants. Acute respiratory infections still contribute to under-five and infant morbidity in our environment.