Clinico-sociodemographic profile of children aged 1-59 month admitted with pneumonia in a tertiary care hospital (a prospective cohort study)

Pneumonia is the major cause of morbidity and mortality among young children. Globally, there are over 1,400 cases of pneumonia per 100,000 children, or 1 case per 71 children every year and is responsibe for the lives of over 800,000 children under five every year, including over 153,000 newborns. Objective: To identify sociodemographic factors and clinical characteristics of pneumonia in children between 1 month to five years of age. Materials & Methods: Hospital based prospective cohort study conducted at tertiary teaching institution in North India. The study period was one year i.e. from September 2019 through August 2020. Results: 70 cases (87.1%) were less than 1 year old and was female predominance (61.5%). 72.1% of babies who were less than 2 years old was not exclusively breastfed. Most common symptom was cough (94.3%) followed by fever in 87.1%. History of exposure to smoke was present in 50% of cases. The present study has identified various sociodemographic, nutritional and environmental risk factors for pneumonia which can be reduced by effective education of the community and through appropriate public health measures.