Pneumonia is an inflammatory disease of the lung tissue and is also known as pneumonia. It is one of the most common diseases of the respiratory system in children. It can be caused by various pathogens.
The time of infection also plays a role in its course, but also in the identification of the pathogen. Thus, the baby can be infected directly at or shortly after birth as a newborn or in the following weeks and months. Since the baby’s immune system is constantly maturing, but is also initially supported by antibodies of the mother (so-called maternity protection), the phase in which the baby is infected is extremely relevant.
Every year, an estimated 150 million children worldwide contract pneumonia. 2 million of these children die from pneumonia, but these figures are driven up by developing countries in Asia and Africa. In addition to the age of the patient and the strain of the pathogen, pneumonia can also be subdivided according to where it occurs.
A distinction is made here between pneumonia acquired on an outpatient basis and those infections that have developed nosocomially. Outpatient means that the baby was infected with a pathogen outside the hospital in its natural environment. Nosocomial is another term for “acquired in hospital”. Hospital-acquired infections are usually less favorable, since the child is often hospitalized because of another illness and the immune system is therefore additionally weakened.
Risk factors
Various factors can increase the risk of developing pneumonia in a baby. It is possible to distinguish between factors that increase the risk of infection and those that have a negative influence on the baby’s defence against pathogens. Basically, a poor environment increases the risk of developing the disease.
This means that babies and children with a socially weak background are more likely to be exposed to sources of danger such as hygienic deficits, unhealthy nutrition and possibly passive smoking. The maturing lung cannot cope with such circumstances and becomes ill. Malformations of the respiratory system, a congenital immune deficiency, bronchial asthma, heart defects, but also acquired infections with viruses that cause a systemic disease (e.g. measles) can promote the occurrence of pneumonia. The longer a hospital stay, the greater the risk of a nosocomial infection. If the baby has to be ventilated because his condition leaves no other option, the risk of pneumonia increases even more.
