Department of Public Health, School of Health and Allied Sciences, Pokhara University, Kaski, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2013 Aug 7;8(8):e71311. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071311. Print 2013.
Pneumonia is one of the major public health problems in children under five years of age. The aim of this study was to analyze the time, place, and characteristics of the distribution of pneumonia in hospitalized children under five years of age at the Dhaulagiri Zonal Hospital (DZH) in Nepal. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at DZH from July 16, 2008 to August 17, 2011 for hospitalized children under five years of age and diagnosed with pneumonia. The main bacterial cause of pneumonia was Streptococcus pneumoniae and the main viral cause was Respiratory Syntical Virus (RSV). The majority of children admitted for treatment of pneumonia were males (60%), from upper class ethnic groups, and common among those aged 29 days to one year (49.1% of overall pneumonia cases). Data from this study show that pneumonia episodes in DZH occurred throughout the year with a sharp increase in the occurrence at the end of August to September. More cases were recorded during the rainy seasons and winter months in all three study years. The cases were from households most concentrated in Baglung municipality where the hospital is located. Pneumonia was found in higher proportions among hospitalized male children, those aged 29 days to one year, and in upper ethnic groups, during the rainy seasons and in winter months, and among local populations near the hospital in the rural western region of Nepal. Strengthening community-based case management, prevention strategies, and health care delivery system would help reduce pneumonia cases and the overall burden associated with it.
肺炎是五岁以下儿童的主要公共卫生问题之一。本研究旨在分析尼泊尔道拉吉里地区医院（DZH）住院五岁以下儿童肺炎的时间、地点和分布特征。2008 年 7 月 16 日至 2011 年 8 月 17 日，在 DZH 对五岁以下住院并被诊断为肺炎的儿童进行了一项描述性的横断面研究。肺炎的主要细菌性病因是肺炎链球菌，主要病毒性病因是呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）。大多数因肺炎住院治疗的儿童是男性（60%），来自上层种姓群体，年龄在 29 天至 1 岁之间的儿童最常见（占所有肺炎病例的 49.1%）。本研究的数据表明，DZH 全年都有肺炎发作，8 月底至 9 月急剧增加。在所有三年的研究中，雨季和冬季的病例都较多。病例来自于最集中在医院所在的 Baglung 市的家庭。在雨季和冬季、在医院附近的农村西部地区、住院的男童、29 天至 1 岁的儿童以及上层种姓群体中，肺炎的发病率较高。加强基于社区的病例管理、预防策略和医疗保健提供系统将有助于减少肺炎病例及其相关的总体负担。
