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Review
. 2021 Jun 17:9:676296.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2021.676296. eCollection 2021.

Emergent Pneumonia in Children

Cecilia Perret  1 , Nicole Le Corre  1 , Jose A Castro-Rodriguez  2
Affiliations
Review

Emergent Pneumonia in Children

Cecilia Perret et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

In recent decades there have been multiple pathogens, viruses and bacteria, which have emerged as causal agents of pneumonia affecting adults, albeit less frequently, to children. For the purposes of this article we have classified emerging pathogens as follows: True emerging, to pathogens identified for the very first time affecting human population (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV, avian influenza, and hantavirus); Re-emerging, to known pathogens which circulation was controlled once, but they have reappeared (measles, tuberculosis, antimicrobial resistant bacteria such as CA-MRSA, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and new serotypes of post-vaccine pneumococcal); and finally, those that we have called old known with new presentations, including common pathogens that, in particular condition, have changed their form of presentation (rhinovirus, and non-SARS coronavirus). We will review for each of them their epidemiology, forms of presentation, therapy, and prognosis in children compared to the adult with the aim of being able to recognize them to establish appropriate therapy, prognostics, and effective control measures.

Keywords: COVID - 19; children; emerging respiratory pathogens; pneumonia - clinical features and management; re-emerging respiratory pathogens.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of epidemics and pandemics involving the lower respiratory tract during the last two decades.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) caused by emerging coronaviruses worldwide from 2003 to 2020. SARS (purple), MERS (red), and COVID-19 (yellow) cases until December 21, 2020. Size of circles is proportional to the number of cases (range: 0–23,886,000 cases).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Numbers of New World Hantaviruses confirmed cases in the Americas. Size of circles is proportional to the number of cases (range 6–2032 cases).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chest X-ray showing diffuse interstitial and alveolar infiltrates in a newborn with Hantavirus infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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