Respiratory rate as a predictor of positive lung aspirates in young Gambian children with lobar pneumonia.
Falade, AG;
Adegbola, RA;
Mulholland, EK;
Greenwood, BM;
(2001)
Respiratory rate as a predictor of positive lung aspirates in young Gambian children with lobar pneumonia.
Annals of tropical paediatrics, 21 (4).
pp. 293-297.
ISSN 0272-4936
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07430170120093472
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Clinical predictors of a positive bacterial culture from lung aspirate or blood culture were investigated in 90 children under 5 years of age with lobar pneumonia on whom both lung aspiration and blood culture were performed. Of the 66 children with a respiratory rate of > or = 50 breaths/min, 35 (53%) had positive bacterial lung aspirates compared with only five (21.7%) of 23 children with a respiratory rate of < 50 breaths/min (odds ratio [OR] 4.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.24-15.46, p = 0.02). Of the 41 children with positive lung aspirates, 31 (76%) had negative blood cultures. In contrast with children with positive lung aspirates, there were no clinical predictors of a positive blood culture. A respiratory rate of > or = 50 breaths/min in children with radiological evidence of lobar pneumonia would support lung aspiration as a positive result is significantly more likely than in children with a lower respiratory rate.
