Desnutrición proteico-calórica y esquema de vacunación incompleto, asociado a neumonía bacteriana complicada con derrame pleural en pacientes menores de 5 años hospitalizados en terapia intensiva del Hospital del Niño Dr. Francisco De Icaza Bustamante, periodo 2020- 2023.

Abstract

Introduction: Bacterial pneumonia in children is a common medical condition that leads to numerous hospitalizations in Ecuador. One of its known complications is pleural effusion, which is manifested by the accumulation of fluid in the space between the membranes that surround the lungs and the thoracic cavity. Objective: to establish the association between nutritional status and the incomplete vaccination schedule with the development of bacterial pneumonia complicated with pleural effusion in patients under 5 years of age hospitalized in intensive care, period 2020-2023, at the Dr. Francisco De children's hospital. Icaza Bustamante. Materials and methods: descriptive and correlational approach. With nonprobabilistic convenience sampling, 80 patients were included, and information was collected from the medical records located in the hospital archive. Results: the majority of patients were infants from 0 to 11 months, with a high representation of males and from the province of Guayas, and predominantly of low socioeconomic level. Malnutrition was prevalent, evidencing its relationship with susceptibility to infectious diseases. Several etiological agents were identified, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most common. Although the majority had a complete vaccination schedule, a significant percentage had an incomplete schedule, but no correlation was found between this and the development of complicated pneumonia. A weak, although not significant, correlation was observed between pneumonia complicated with pleural effusion and protein-calorie malnutrition. Conclusions: the findings of this study highlight the importance of considering immunization along with protein-calorie malnutrition in the epidemiology of pneumonia, especially in cases of bacterial pneumonia complicated by pleural effusion. These results underscore the need for comprehensive strategies that address the proper management of malnutrition; the application of complete immunization, to prevent and effectively manage this disease in the studied population.