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Maternal, Perinatal and Pediatric Nutrition (Poster Session)

(P27-042-25) Duration of Recovery of Pneumonia in Children With Normal Nutritional Status Versus Children With Malnutrition Under the Age of Five Years

Monday, June 2, 2025
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM ET
Location: Poster Board A-42

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SJ

    Stuti Jajodia (she/her/hers)

    Student
    JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, JSS Medical College and Hospital, Department of Paediatrics
    Mysuru, Karnataka, India

    • Co-Author(s)

  • PV

    Prajwala H. Vasudev

    JSS Medical College, JSSAHER, Department of Paediatrics, India

  • DA

    Deepak Anil

    JSS Medical College, JSSAHER, Dept of Paediatrics, India

  • CB

    Chethak K. B

    JSS Medical College, JSSAHER, Department of Paediatrics, India

  • SS

    Srishti Sankrityayan, n/a

    Student
    JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research, JSS Medical College and Hospital, Department of Paediatrics
    Mysuru, Karnataka, India

Disclosure(s):
Stuti Jajodia: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.


Objectives: Comparing the duration of recovery of pneumonia in children with normal nutritional status and malnutrition

Analyzing the resistance to antibiotics in children with malnutrition

Methods: A prospective and observational study was conducted to compare the duration of recovery of pneumonia and incidence of resistance to antibiotics across different nutritional groups admitted in JSS Hospital, Mysuru, a tertiary care teaching hospital over a period of 2 months.

Inclusion criteria 
1. Patients under the age of 5 years admitted for pneumonia, on antibiotics
2. Categorised as - Patients with Normal Nutritional Status (NN), Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)

Exclusion criteria
1. Patients who left against medical advice.

The study analysed data from 63 patients: 37 NN, 13 MAM and 13 SAM. Collected data included patient demographics, antibiotics used and duration of hospital stay. Duration of recovery and antibiotic resistance across different nutritional groups used independent t, ANOVA and chi square test respectively.

Results: The duration of recovery of pneumonia for children with NN was 4.89±2.05, that was less than those with MAM (5.31±2.49) and SAM (7.31±2.49). This difference was found to be statistically significant using an ANOVA test with a p-value of 0.004.

Secondarily, among children with pneumonia, 61.5% with SAM, 45.9% with NN, and 30.8% with MAM showed antibiotic resistance. These differences were not found to be statistically significant using a chi-square value of 2.477 and a p-value of 0.290.

Conclusions: Our study concludes that the duration of recovery of pneumonia is shorter in children with NN than those with MAM and SAM. The incidence of resistance was not statistically significant in children with malnutrition and NN. We attribute the resistance in organisms to its high virulence rather than the nutritional status of the child.

This study highlights the fact that nutritional deficiencies can play a significant role in recovery from pneumonia. We recommend diagnosing and treating nutritional deficiencies for faster recovery rates, with prudent use of antibiotics to prevent the emergence of resistant organisms.

Funding Sources: None