Resumen

GUISCAFRE-GALLARDO, Héctor. Total health care for children with acute respiratory infections: Suitability and current view. Bol. Med. Hosp. Infant. Mex. [online]. 2008, vol.65, n.4, pp.249-260. ISSN 1665-1146.

Even though most of the acute respiratory infections (ARI) are self-limited, the mistakes in diagnosis are a well-known problem. On one hand, an excessive use of antimicrobials (90% of the cases) and symptomatic medicines (98% of the cases) has been demonstrated. On the other hand, pneumonia, the main complication of ARI, is not diagnosed or treated on time mainly in children younger than 5 years old, leading to a higher mortality rate. The deaths analyzed -through the verbal autopsy technique- have allowed us to identify that 70% of the children with pneumonia, younger than 5 years old, die at home, and moreover, 60% of those children die only a few hours after they have been examined by a doctor. Due to this problem, we present to the readers of this journal a series of 3 clinical guides that have been previously validated for the Mexican population with governmental health care, adapting these guides to the first level of institutional or private health care for people not included in any health care system. The first guide is to facilitate the diagnosis of each ARI disease. The other 2 are to be able to provide the necessary complete treatment of ARI in each clinical entity, which are now grouped on the basis of their etiology and the therapy that is necessary. The second guide is therefore related to the treatment of the cases without tachypnoea, this is, without respiratory insufficiency. The management of the first level of health care provided to patients with tachypnoea or with respiratory insufficiency is shown in the third guide. In these 2 treatment guides, the 6 components of the integral and complete medical care of children are included, as it is described in the text and in table 2. The more controversial and relevant aspects are commented in each clinical guide. Finally, pediatricians and medical readers are challenged to "Compare your clinical guides with your daily practice and act accordingly!" Several reflections about the excellence of pediatric consultations are also presented.

Palabras llave : Acute respiratory infections; total health care; children.

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