title: Respiratory tract infections in children in primary healthcare in Poland.
abstract: Respiratory tract infections are the most common diseases in children. The aim of the study was to assess their frequency and antibiotic treatment in Poland. We retrospectively analyzed 91 randomly-selected children aged 0-17 years receiving care from birth in a large primary healthcare establishment in the city of Wroclaw in Poland. Respiratory tract infections were responsible for 25-40 % of all primary healthcare visits. The median of visits due to upper respiratory tract infections was 1.8 per year in all children and 2.0 per year in children 0-3 years old. Antibiotics were overused; the majority (57.4 %) of the respiratory infections were treated with antibiotics: acute tonsillitis in 90.7 %, bronchitis in 67.5 %, otitis media in 65.9 %, pneumonia in 60.9 %, non-specific upper respiratory tract infections in 25.8 %, laryngitis in 22.2 %, and sinusitis in 12.5 %. The higher the number of antibiotic therapies, the higher the total number of visits including visits due to respiratory tract infections. In conclusion, implementation of careful and responsible management of a rational use of antibiotics is urgently needed since a reduction in their use may lead to a decrease in the number of visits due to upper respiratory tract infections and a total number of primary care visits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Medical University of Wroclaw, 44 Bujwida St., Wroclaw, Poland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuchar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miśkiewicz
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Szenborn
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kurpas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001991:Bronchitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014069:Tonsillitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents