Outcome of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children Admitted to PICU at Minia Children University Hospital.

Background: Among the primary reasons contributing to morbidity and mortality in children is community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Aim of the work: To assess the clinical outcomes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children admitted to PICU at Maternity and Children's Hospital of Minia University. Methods: This research was carried out at Maternity and Children's Hospital of Minia University, Pediatric Department (Chest ward and Pediatric ICU ) from June 2023 to December 2023. The study enrolled 80 children with community acquired pneumonia (40 patients with mild to moderate CAP admitted to the chest ward as controls and 40 patients with severe CAP admitted to PICU as cases). Demographic and clinical data were gathered. X-ray was used to assess the diagnosis of pneumonia. Results: incidence of fever, cyanosis, respiratory distress, complication, duration of hospital stay, and 1-month mortality were significantly higher in cases with severe CAP admitted to PICU in comparison with mild to moderate CAP pediatric patients admitted to the chest ward. Incidence of one -month mortality among children with severe pneumonia was 17.5% . Conclusion: CAP remains one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in children all over the world. Pediatric cases with sever CAP are usually admitted to PICU and is associated with high mortality risk and poor clinical outcome.