Acute respiratory infections of concomitant etiology in children

Abstract

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) still represent a considerable challenge in the infectious pathology patterns. ARIs are included in the list of diseases with the greatest economic importance in the Russian Federation. According to the State Report on Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare of Population in the Russian Federation in 2020, ARIs hold a dominant position in the infectious and parasitic disease patterns. The issue of concomitant infection is extremely topical today. Three scenarios of interaction between respiratory causative pathogens may develop in co-infections: synergism (more severe progress of a disease as compared to mono-infections), antagonism (milder progress of an infectious disease) or indifference (absence of interaction between two infectious pathogens, as a result of which a disease develops as two separate infections). A clinical symptom presentation of a disease may be distorted, as new symptoms that are not typical of the traditional progression of each of the infections may appear. In clinical practice, antibacterial therapy is often prescribed in cases where etiological infectious agents are not identified, and a reference point is the clinical characteristics of a disease and the severity of patient's condition that is most frequently caused by intoxication symptoms and intensity of feverish reaction and is exhibiting similar symptoms in viral and bacterial ARIs. That is why the rapid identification of the causative agents can help avoid irrational therapy and polypragmasia. The article provides a clinical case of the treatment of ARI of concomitant etiology which required a differentiated approach and prescription of an antiviral drug.