Outcome of upper respiratory tract infections in healthy children: Antibiotic stewardship in treatment of acute upper respiratory tract infections

Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the outcome of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) in healthy children. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 314 children aged 3-36 months in the paediatric outpatient clinic and emergency department with symptoms of URTI (fever, cough, rhinorrhoea) for ≤5 days. Patient’s demographics, clinical features, laboratory data and outcome were recorded. Follow up phone calls were made to parents on day 7 (response 93.6%) and day 14 (response 94.6%) to record outcome. Results: A total of 314 children with URTIs were included. Majority (57.6%) were males and <1year of age (40%). Common manifestations of URTI were fever (89%), cough (79%), rhinorrhoea (62%), pharyngitis (79%) and conjunctivitis (46%). More than half (53%) had history of contact with URTI in a family member. Mean duration of symptoms was 2.7±1.3 days. Majority (93%) of children were given supportive treatment and only 6.7% received antibiotics initially. Most of children (76%) recovered within one week and 91.8% within two weeks with supportive care only. Only 4% children were hospitalized and 12% required follow up visit of which 16% needed oral antibiotics. Complications or deaths did not occur. Conclusions: Majority of URTIs in healthy children resolved with supportive treatment and do not require antibiotics. Antibiotic stewardship in simple URTIs should be practiced using awareness and advocacy campaigns. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1420 How to cite this:Khan EA, Raja MH, Chaudhry S, Zahra T, Naeem S, Anwar M. Outcome of upper respiratory tract infections in healthy children: Antibiotic stewardship in treatment of acute upper respiratory tract infections. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(4):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.4.1420 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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A role of oropharyngeal microbiota in developing acute and chronic diseases of the upper respiratory tract

Russian Journal of Infection and Immunity ◽

10.15789/2220-7619-aro-809 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 359-367

Author(s):

I. I. Ababii ◽

L. A. Danilov ◽

M. K. Maniuc ◽

P. I. Ababii ◽

S. S. Ghinda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Respiratory Tract ◽

Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Chronic Tonsillitis ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Control Group ◽

Healthy Children ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract ◽

Upper Respiratory ◽

Tract Infections

Currently, a rise in incidence of polyethological inflammation of the upper respiratory tract mucosa paralleled by altered resident and transient microbiota displaying in many cases increased antibiotic resistance has been noted. Opportunistic microbes play a major role in developing inflammatory process in Pirogov–Waldeyer’s ring. An inflammatory process occurring in the tonsillar lymphatic tissue results in host systemic complications. Fighting against acute and chronic infections of the upper respiratory tract holds the main task in pediatric otorhinolaryngology, as they can consequently elicit the cardiovascular, genitourinary and musculoskeletal complications. The results of studies examining this issue remain very contradictory, which accounted for a need to conduct our study on the territory of Moldova featured with mixed climatic conditions. Here, we wanted to study a role of microbial factor in etiopathogenesis of chronic tonsillitis in children. Bacteriological microbiota data for superficial palatine tonsils were obtained form 608 children subdivided into 5 groups: group I — 333 children with compensated chronic tonsillitis; group II — 87 children with decompensated chronic tonsillitis; group III — 91 children with acute upper respiratory tract infections (comparison group); group IV — 48 children with acute upper respiratory tract infections treated with antibiotic therapy; group V — 49 apparently healthy children (control group). It was found that β-hemolytic streptococcus exerting high sensitivity to virtually all antibiotics groups was detected in 17.4% of children with acute tonsilar inflammatory processes and decompensated defense in the lymphatic pharyngeal ring compared to 3.5% in control group. Streptococcus pneumoniae was isolated in all study groups ranging within 4.8–21.7%, including 14% in apparently healthy children characterized by reduced antibiotics sensitivity. The data obtained suggest that sickly children with acute and chronic upper respiratory tract infections constitute a risk group for developing somatic diseases. The high incidence of Streptococcus pneumoniae indicates a need for performing immunoprophylaxis, use of therapeutic vaccination as a up-to-date, combined approach in treatment of such pediatric cohort.

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Health Providers’ Advising on Symptom Management for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections: Does Elaboration of Reasoning Influence Outcomes Relevant to Antibiotic Stewardship?

Journal of Language and Social Psychology ◽

10.1177/0261927x20912460 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 349-374

Author(s):

Kasey A. Foley ◽

Erina L. MacGeorge ◽

David L. Brinker ◽

Yuwei Li ◽

Yanmengqian Zhou

Keyword(s):

Respiratory Tract ◽

Symptom Management ◽

Antibiotic Stewardship ◽

Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract ◽

Upper Respiratory ◽

Management Advice ◽

Tract Infections ◽

Advice Quality

Antibiotic-resistant infections, fueled by unwarranted antibiotic prescribing, are an increasing threat to public health. Reducing overprescribing and promoting antibiotic stewardship requires managing patient expectations for and understanding about the utility of antibiotics. One hotspot for overprescribing is upper respiratory tract infections, for which the best treatment is often non-antibiotic symptom management behaviors. Guided by advice response theory, the current study examines how providers’ reason-giving for symptom management advice affected perceptions of advice quality, efficacy for symptom monitoring and management, and satisfaction with care for patients who were not prescribed antibiotics for their upper respiratory tract infections. Transcribed medical visits were coded for symptom management advice reason-giving and patients completed post-visit surveys. Greater provider elaboration about instruction was independently and positively associated with evaluations of advice quality. Results also indicate several significant interactions between types of reason-giving. Implications of these findings for advice theory and clinical practice are addressed in the discussion.

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