Abstract
The objective of this study was to describe the overall pattern of morbidity and mortality of children seen at the Thai Binh Paediatric Hospital in Vietnam, with a focus on infectious diseases. A retrospective review of hospitalisation records was conducted from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2019. Data were obtained from a total of 113,999 records. The median age of patients was 18 months, with 84.0% of patients aged <5 years. Infectious diseases accounted for 61.0% of all cases. The most prevalent diseases were lower respiratory tract infections (32.8%), followed by gastrointestinal infections (13.3%) and confirmed influenza (5.4%). Most infections were not microbiologically documented. A total of 81.4% patients received at least one antibiotic. Most patients (97.0%) were hospitalised for less than 15 days. Regarding outcomes, 87.8% patients were discharged home with a favourable outcome. Twelve percent were transferred to the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital because their condition had worsened and 0.1% died. In total, infectious diseases accounted for 40.4% of deaths, followed by neonatal disorders (34.6%). Our data serves a basis for the identification of needs for diagnostic tools and for future evaluation of the effect of the targeted implementation of such facilities. Point-of-care tests, including real-time polymerase chain reaction assays to identify common pathogens should be implemented for more accurate diagnosis and more appropriate antibiotic use.
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Data availability statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [PG], upon reasonable request.
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Pham, T.D., Hoang, V.T., Dao, T.L. et al. Morbidity and Mortality Patterns in Children Admitted to Hospital in Thai Binh, Vietnam: A Five-year Descriptive Study with a Focus on Infectious Diseases. J Epidemiol Glob Health 11, 69–75 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2991/jegh.k.200723.001
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2991/jegh.k.200723.001