Introduction:

acute respiratory infections represent one of the leading causes of medical care worldwide, both in outpatient and inpatient settings and are among the leading causes of mortality.

Objective:

to characterize acute respiratory infections in patients admitted the intensive care unit at “Pepe Portilla” Provincial Pediatric Teaching Hospital from March 2016 to March 2018.

Methods:

a descriptive, cross-sectional and observational study was conducted. The sample consisted of all patients admitted with an acute respiratory infection in the period studied (n=261), chosen from a non-probability sample. Descriptive statistical techniques were applied to process the information collected.

Results:

predominantly male patients under 5 years of age (43,3 %). Bronchopneumonia (48,5 %) in children younger than 5 years old and pneumonia (39,2 %) in children from 6 to 10 years were the most frequent clinical types. Weaning from breastfeeding, young age, passive smoking and cohabitation with animals were the risk factors with the highest incidence. Parapneumonic pleural effusion was the most represented intrathoracic complication, identifying the 51,8 %.

Conclusions:

male infants and children under 5 years of age are prone to severe respiratory infections, where pneumonia is the clinical type with the highest incidence. Severe respiratory infections in pediatric patients continue to be a health problem in the province, creating high hospital costs.

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