The study compared hospitalization rates for acute respiratory infection in children with congenital heart disease without Down syndrome and Down syndrome children with and without heart disease, all under 24 months. The results showed that hospital admissions for respiratory infections, especially RSV dominate syndrome children.
“As a specific example among those with mild heart disease and have not benefited immunoprophylaxis protocols against the virus,” says Julian Lily, a pediatrician at the Hospital Niño Jesús in Madrid and author of the study.
By its physical, morphological alterations of upper and lower respiratory, immunological, pulmonary hypertension, or poor muscle tone, these children have a high predisposition to respiratory infections such as RSV bronchiolitis and pneumonia. They are more frequent and more severe than those developed for children without such chromosomal alterations.
CIVIC 21 data points to a vulnerability of these patients compared to respiratory syncytial virus: a 20% syndrome children admitted for acute respiratory infection, of which 20.7% ended in a pediatric intensive care unit, compared 11% of children without the syndrome, although with congenital heart disease.
The study highlights that children under 24 months old with Down syndrome and congenital heart disease monopolize nonsignificant increased risk of admission for respiratory infection, most often due to respiratory syncytial virus, while children who do not have this syndrome disorder heart have a risk of hospitalization for acute respiratory infection similar to those with congenital heart disease (22% and 23% respectively).
The main conclusion emphasizes lily, is the ability to modify the recommendations for antibiotic prophylaxis in infants with Down syndrome, “even though they have no significant heart disease. Regarding the seasonality of the virus, the critical months were December and January.