Acute Bronchiolitis in Children. Current Approaches to Diagnosis and Therapy

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the problem of acute bronchitis in children. The relevance of this problem is obvious: according to conservative estimates, more than 150 million cases of bronchiolitis are registered annually. 7–13% of these cases require hospital treatment and 1–3% — hospitalization in an ICU. The most common etiologic factor is the virus — respiratory syncytial (the vast majority of cases — 90%); rhinovirus and influenza viruses A and B, parainfluenza, adenovirus, coronavirus, metapneumovirus, and human bocavirus are also important agents. A number of factors can cause the evolution of bronchiolitis in 0–2-years-old children. Premature infants, children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, bottle-fed children, and patients with congenital malformations and immunodeficiencies undergo bronchiolitis especially hard. Specialists of the Professional Association of Pediatricians — The Union of pediatricians of Russia — have formulated and summarized fundamental criteria for the diagnosis, treatment and further management algorithms for patients with this pathology in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine.

Keywords

• acute bronchiolitis
• infectious viral bronchiolitis
• premature infants
• respiratory syncytial virus infection
• respiratory insufficiency
• prophylaxis
• palivizumabum