Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of sepsis in children hospitalized in a level 3 hospital

Background. According to literature data, more than 3 million children die from sepsis every year in the world, and the total number of diagnoses of «sepsis» in the pediatric population exceeds 25 million. Sepsis in childhood has significant differences from adult patients in clinical symptoms, course of the disease, severity of the condition and management tactics.

Objective. Evaluation of the epidemiology and etiology of septic conditions in children of different ages in a hospital setting.

Methods. A retrospective study of the risk factors, etiology and routing of 28 children of different age groups with an established diagnosis of «sepsis» who were treated in a 3rd level children’s hospital was conducted.

Results. It was shown that among the groups of pathogens, the dominant position remains with gram-negative flora, and the leading place among individual microorganisms belongs to Staphylococcus aureus. Considering that Staphylococcus aureus was also the dominant pathogen in children with respiratory infections hospitalized in the isolation and diagnostic department, the authors suggest its influence not only on the prevalence, but also on the severity of the infectious process. In 23% of cases, the diagnosis of sepsis was made on the basis of culturing one pathogen from 2 or more loci. It was also demonstrated that children of younger age groups are more prone to the development of generalized forms of the infectious process: all 28 children were under 12 years old.

Conclusions. Further study of various clinical and epidemiological aspects of the development of septic conditions will reveal the current mechanisms of infection, as well as variants of the body’s response to generalized infection, which will serve as the basis for a personalized approach to the treatment of sepsis in children.