Wheezing- Associated Lower Respiratory Infections in
Under 5-Year-Old Children : Study in Takhli District
Hospital
TAPANOK RATTANADILOK NA BHUKET, M.D.*, PRAMUAN SUNAKORN, M.D.*,
SUBHAREE SUWANJUTHA, M.D.**, SANTI NAWANOPARATKUL,M.D.***,
PRAT UENG TEEYA PAIBOONSILPA, M.D.***
Affiliation : * ARI Section, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok 10120,
** Division of Pediatric Pulmonary Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Rarnathibodi Hospital,
Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400,
*** Takhli District Hospital, Nakhon Sawan Provincial Health Office, Nakhon Sawan 60000, Thailand.
AbstractWheezing was detected in 251 of the 421 (59.6%) children under 5 years old suffering from
acute lower respiratory infections (LRI) treated at the Takhli Hospital, Nakhon Sawan Province from
November 1998 to October 2000. Bronchitis and pneumonia accounted for 55.0 per cent and 40.6
per cent of LRI with wheezing. Most of the patients, 162 of 251 (64.5%) cases were children under
2 years old. The wheezing symptom declined significantly in children older than 4 years of age. In
this study, LRI with wheezing was found all year round but was more frequent in the rainy season
similar to other respiratory infections. As the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections were mainly
found during the rainy season (July-October), the association of wheezing and RSV infections in the
rainy season was evaluated. RSV causing LRI with wheezing in the rainy season revealed 54.7 per
cent and 39.4 per cent in the first and second studied year, respectively. The two-year follow-up of
121 cases of LRI with wheezing showed that 37 cases (30.5%) had repeated episodes of wheezing.
In conclusion, LRI with wheezing caused by RSV was commonly found in children under
2 years old. The occurrence was all the year round but predominantly in the rainy season.
Keywords : Wheezing, Lower Respiratory Infection, RSV
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