Community-acquired pneumonia in young children: updated facts and recommendations

Pediatricians, surgeons, infectious disease specialists and resident doctors from Chisinau specialized hospitals met on March 22, this year, at a seminar with the generic title "Community-acquired pneumonia in young children: updated facts and recommendations".

The event was organized at the initiative of the General Department of Medical and Social Assistance (DGAMS) within the Chisinau Municipal Council in collaboration with the Department of Pediatrics of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, under the auspices of the Pediatric Society of the Republic of Moldova.

University professor Ninel Revenco, Habilitated Doctor of Medical Sciences, head of the Department of Pediatrics, president of the Society of Pediatrics from the Republic of Moldova, welcomed the initiative to organize this scientific event and referred to the impact of pneumonia on the morbidity and mortality of young children in the Republic of Moldova, but also worldwide. "The priority goal of this reunion is to strengthen the professional capacities of the specialists responsible for the medical assistance of children with acute respiratory diseases, in the context of the continuous change of the epidemiological situation and of clinical-diagnostic and treatment approaches, based on evidence", noted the professor.

For his part, Boris Gilca, the head of DGAMS, present at the meeting, particularly mentioned the academic and scientific-practical collaboration and support provided by Nicolae Testemitanu University to municipal institutions, highlighting the importance of consolidating the efforts of specialists from the primary and hospital healthcare branches in the correct management of acute respiratory diseases in children, including community-acquired pneumonia.

 The interdisciplinary program of the seminar included topical issues of interest to the medical practitioners present at the meeting, while the reports presented by the participating institutions offered the possibility of an exchange of experience regarding the management of pneumonia cases in young children.

The specialists tackled the following topics: National clinical protocol "Community-acquired pneumonia in children": evidence-based updates; analysis of community-acquired pneumonia morbidity in young children; etiologic profile of community-acquired pneumonia and antibiotic resistance in young children; interdisciplinary management of destructive pneumonias in young children, characteristics of the evolution of pneumonias in SARS-CoV-2 infection in children.

Specialist doctors from the three municipal pediatric hospitals, representatives of university clinics from the respective clinical bases, resident doctors and pediatricians from the territorial medical associations, as well as the administration of hospitals (Aliona Rotari, director of Children's Municipal Clinical Hospital No. 1, Alexandru Holostenco, director of Valentin Ignatenco Children’s Municipal Clinical Hospital, and Ludmila Bîrca, director of Children’s Municipal Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases), who attended the professional meeting, highly appreciated the scientific-practical value of the seminar.