INTRODUCTION Household air pollution from solid fuel burning kills over 4 million people every year including half a million children from acute lower respiratory infections. Although biologically plausible, it is not clear whether household air pollution is also associated with acute lower respiratory infections in adults. We systematically reviewed the literature on household air pollution an...

BACKGROUND In general, studies reporting positive associations between antibiotic exposure and respiratory and allergic disease have been unable to determine the nature of this association. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between antibiotic exposure in infancy and the development of asthma, eczema and atopy in early childhood. METHODS In a birth cohort study, we collected reported anti...

Background and aim: Thrombocytosis is a marker of inflammatory reaction with varied clinical conditions. The significance of thrombocytosis in relation to severity of the disease in under-five children with lower respiratory tract infection was evaluated. Method: It was a prospective observational study conducted during 12 months on 230 children within ages, 2 to 59 months, hospitalized for low...

Legionella jordanis was first described in 1982 after isolation from environmental sources and is otherwise a very rare human pathogen. Here, we report the recovery of L. jordanis from a bronchoalveolar lavage specimen from a patient who presented with an indolent lower respiratory tract infection associated with constitutional symptoms. This case is the first culture-positive case of infection...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence, clinical correlates, and outcome of hypoxaemia in acutely ill children with respiratory symptoms. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Paediatric casualty ward of a referral hospital at 1670 m altitude in Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS 256 Infants and children under 3 years of age with symptoms of respiratory infection. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES ...

Acute infection of the lower respiratory tract comprises bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia. From a clinical point of view it may be diYcult to distinguish these disease entities and one infection may progress into another. The most common pathogens causing these infections are the primary respiratory viruses (respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza virus, adenoviruses, parainfluenza...

The following comments, although largely addressed in the article, are intended to highlight the caution that is required on the part of the reader when attempting to implement these conclusions to everyday practice. In particular, we must point out that lack of evidence of efficacy is not evidence of inefficacy when addressing current treatment paradigms. The problems of this and previous stud...

BACKGROUND Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) often leads to hospitalization, and it was indicated that causative viral infections are underestimated. OBJECTIVES It was our aim to compare the frequency of 8 relevant viruses in 109 hospitalized LRTI patients and 144 healthy controls. METHODS Virus infection was determined by seroconversion and ELISA for anti-virus antibodies in repeate...

INTRODUCTION Pneumonia is the most serious inflammatory disease of the respiratory system and also the most common infectious disease. Even now, in the 21(st) century, pneumonia occupies a prominent place in clinical medicine and public health. We are confronted daily with the increased number of patients, as well as the constant increase in annual mortality due to this infectious disease. GO...

Patients with respiratory tract infections (RTI), Pneumonia inclusive account for a large proportion of a primary care physicians (PCP) work load and a frequent cause for prescription of antibacterial agents. The study was aimed at analyzing the various isolated organisms obtained from sputum and to test their susceptibility and sensitivity to available antibiotics in use in the hospital and en...