Abstract:
Objective: To describe the epidemiology of hospitalisations for pneumonia in children in Auckland, New Zealand, Methods: A consecutive sample of children hospitalised with pneumonia at the Starship Childrens Hospital from 1 July 1993 to 30 June 1996. Subjects were Pacific Island, Maori, and European/other children aged 0-14 years resident in north, west and centra) Auckland who were hospitalised with pneumonia. Comparisons were made of the number of hospitalisations by year, ethnicity, age and season; and of the hospitalisation rates by year, ethnicity and age. Results: There were 681 children who were hospitalised with pneumonia during 1993-94, 731 during 1994-95 and 630 during 1995-96, The average annual hospitalisation rate was 5,0 per 1000 children aged 0-14 years (95% Cl 4,8-5,2). The average annual hospitalisation rate tor Pacific Island children was 14,0 per 1000 (95% Cl 13.0-14,9), for Maori children 6.7 per 1000 (95% Cl 6.0-7.4) and for European/other children was 2.7 per 1000 (95% Cl 2,6-2,9). Fifty-three per cent of the hospitalised children were less than 2 years of age, A larger percentage of Pacific Island (61 %) and Maori (60%) children were aged less than 2 years compared to European/other (42%) children (P< 0,001), There was marked seasonal variability in the number of hospitalisations, with peaks in hospitalisations corresponding to peaks in positive respiratory viral isolates. Conclusions: Pneumonia was a consistent cause of hospitalisation for a large number of Auckland children during this 3-year period, Hospitalisation rates and age distribution varied with ethnicity. Hospitalisation rates were highest tor Pacific Island, intermediate for Maori and lowest for European/other children. Based on these hospitalisation data, pneumonia is a significant cause of mortiidity for children in Auckland, New Zealand.