Introduction:

Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 years of age. Objectives: To describe the demographic and microbiological characteristics and immunization status against Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) of hospitalized patients under 59 months of age with diagnoses of probable or confirmed community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) from January 2017 to August 2022.

Materials and Methods:

This was a retrospective, cross-sectional and descriptive observational study. Based on the VINUVA database, patients under 5 years of age with a diagnosis of probable or confirmed CAP were included. Variables included age, gender, CAP type, bacteriological results (cultures and molecular testing), serotyping, PCV immunization, and outcome. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee.

Results:

A total of 593 patients were included, with a median age of 22 months; 52.8% were male; 72.8% had probable CAP; and 27.2% had confirmed CAP. A total of 64.9% had received PCV vaccination. S. pneumoniae was isolated in 84% of confirmed CAP, with a predominance of vaccine serotypes. 9.8% were severe pneumonias and were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit. During the pandemic, hospitalizations and PCV immunization decreased, accompanied by an increase in S. pneumoniae pneumonia. The overall mortality rate was 3.4%.

Conclusions:

There was a predominance of children under 24 months of age and males in our study population. The vaccine-derived Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype predominated in the isolates. Severe pneumonia was observed in 9.8% of cases, and overall mortality was 3.4%. During the pandemic, PCV vaccination coverage decreased, and CAP caused by S. pneumoniae increased.

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