Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Outbreak of community acquired pneumonia in Naseerabad district March-2018

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 101; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ijid.2020.09.848

1878-3511

Zaheer Ahmed,

COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

Background: On 25th March 2018, Medical Superintendent of District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) Dera Murad Jamali reported 43 cases of lower respiratory tract infection cases admitted in hospital and requested for epidemiological investigation. A FELTP fellow was deputed to investigate the outbreak, evaluate risk factors and recommend control measures. Methods and materials: A descriptive study was conducted from 27th to 30th March 2018. Case was defined as, "Sudden onset of cough with or without sputum, high grade fever (range 101-105 F), along with one of following: sweating, chills, shortness of breath, chest pain in patients admitted in DHQ Hospital Dera Murad Jamali from 23rd February 2018 to 27th March 2018." Active case search along with epidemiological information was collected. Routine blood investigations, sputum examination and chest radiograph of suspected cases were done. Results: A total of 167 cases of respiratory illness were reported during period of outbreak (AR = 3.4/10000). Mean age of cases were 18 years. Most affected age group was 15-19 years (n = 73, 43.7%). Out of these 167 cases, 57 (34.1%) were radiologically confirmed. Streptococcus pneumoniae was grown in 17 (48.5%) out of 35 sputum samples. Conclusion: Outbreak was controlled by administration of 'supervised mass chemoprophylaxis' of all susceptible individuals in the community with Tablet Azithromycin orally. Study highlights the importance of Streptococcus pneumoniae as a causative organism for outbreaks of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in community and reiterates the need for formulating a policy for continuous surveillance. It also highlights the importance of novel method of using chemoprophylaxis for control of an ongoing outbreak of CAP.