Neumonía comunitaria grave

Acute pneumonia is very common in our community. We accept the definition of severe pneumonia as those children who need admission to hospital and very severe pneumonia as those children that need admission to Intensive Care Unit. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most frequent bacteria among hospitalised children. Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae represents 10% of children admitted to hospital with acute pneumonia. Bordetella pertussis, although not very prevalent, may cause very severe pneumonia in young children. Viral pneumonia, mainly due to respiratory sincitial virus and adenovirus, leads most often than bacterial pneumonia to acute respiratory failure in children. Some hospitalised children persist with fever, respiratory distress or sepsis, in spite of correct medical treatment, because of complicated parapneumonic effusion, necrotizing pneumonia or pulmonary abscess.