Hospitalization for pneumonia in children in Auckland, New Zealand.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the epidemiology of hospitalizations for pneumonia in children in Auckland, New Zealand.


METHODS
A consecutive sample of children hospitalised with pneumonia at the Starship Childrens Hospital from 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1996. Subjects were Pacific Island, Maori, and European/other children aged 0-14 years resident in north, west and central Auckland who were hospitalized with pneumonia. Comparisons were made of the number of hospitalisations by year, ethnicity, age and season; and of the hospitalisation rates by year, ethnicity and age.


RESULTS
There were 681 children who were hospitalized with pneumonia during 1993-94, 731 during 1994-95 and 630 during 1995-96. The average annual hospitalization rate was 5.0 per 1000 children aged 0-14 years (95% CI 4.8-5.2). The average annual hospitalisation rate for Pacific Island children was 14.0 per 1000 (95% CI 13.0-14.9), for Maori children 6.7 per 1000 (95% CI 6.0-7.4) and for European/other children was 2.7 per 1000 (95% CI 2.6-2.9). Fifty-three per cent of the hospitalised children were less than 2 years of age. A larger percentage of Pacific Island (61%) and Maori (60%) children were aged less than 2 years compared to European/other (42%) children (P < 0.001). There was marked seasonal variability in the number of hospitalizations, with peaks in hospitalizations corresponding to peaks in positive respiratory viral isolates.


CONCLUSIONS
Pneumonia was a consistent cause of hospitalisation for a large number of Auckland children during this 3-year period. Hospitalisation rates and age distribution varied with ethnicity. Hospitalization rates were highest for Pacific Island. intermediate for Maori and lowest for European/other children. Based on these hospitalisation data, pneumonia is a significant cause of morbidity for children in Auckland, New Zealand.
Grant
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CC
Department of Paediatrics, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Scragg
R
R
Tan
D
D
Pati
A
A
Aickin
R
R
Yee
R L
RL
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D006306:Health Surveys; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D010139:Pacific Islands / Q000208:ethnology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data