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Pneumonia in Bhutanese children: what we know, and what we need to know
Sophie Jullien1,2, Dinesh Pradhan3, Quique Bassat1,4,5,6,7
11ISGlobal, Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Insights
Childhood pneumonia remains a significant threat in Bhutan, with critical data gaps hindering effective prevention and treatment strategies. Further research is urgently needed to address these knowledge deficits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality in children under five globally.
- Childhood pneumonia presents a substantial public health challenge in Bhutan.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review existing literature on childhood pneumonia in Bhutan.
- Identify knowledge gaps concerning the burden, causes, risk factors, and management of pneumonia in Bhutanese children.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature search was conducted across major databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar) and local sources.
- Included reports published up to December 2018, focusing on various aspects of childhood pneumonia in Bhutan.
- Findings were summarized through a narrative review approach.
Main Results:
- Despite decreasing trends, pneumonia contributes significantly to child morbidity and mortality in Bhutan.
- The national surveillance system primarily tracks influenza but is expanding to include other viral causes.
- There is a severe lack of data on bacterial causes, risk factors, and clinical/prognostic characteristics of childhood pneumonia.
Conclusions:
- Significant data deficiencies exist regarding the epidemiology, microbiology, and clinical aspects of childhood pneumonia in Bhutan.
- These knowledge gaps impede the development and implementation of evidence-based national strategies for pneumonia prevention and management.
Background:
Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in under-five children worldwide. We conducted a systematic review to identify the knowledge gaps around childhood pneumonia in Bhutan.
Methods:
We searched PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google scholar from conception to 3rd December 2018, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Bhutan's Ministry of Health and other local databases for relevant reports. We included any report describing pneumonia in Bhutanese children with regards to the burden of the disease, aetiology, related risk factors, clinical and prognostic characteristics, surveillance systems and national preventive strategies. Two review authors identified the records. We summarized the findings narratively.
Results:
We included 44 records. Although with notable decreasing trends, pneumonia is still accountable for a high burden and mortality rate in Bhutanese children. The national surveillance system focuses mainly on influenza identification but has recently introduced other viral aetiology to monitor. We found very scarce or no data with regard to the bacterial aetiology, related risk factors and clinico-radiological and prognostic characteristics.
Conclusion:
There is a dearth of data regarding the epidemiological, microbiological, clinical and radiological characteristics of pneumonia in children in Bhutan, leading to challenges while implementing evidence-based management and effective national preventive strategies.
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