Analysis of the Sputum Culture Spectrum of Children with Respiratory Tract Infection in Wuxi Between 2014 and 2021

OBJECTIVE: We retrospectively analysed related clinical data to determine the influencing factors to better prevent and treat children’s respiratory tract infection. METHODS: The study participants were children with respiratory tract infection who had sputum cultured in our hospital between 2014 and 2021. Sputum samples were extracted using negative suction pressure and sent to the hospital microbiological laboratory for testing. The testing results were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 4610 sputum samples were collected, and 508 positive samples were detected. The positive rate of pathogenic bacteria was 11.02%. Escherichia coli infection was more common in male patients (11.11%), whereas Haemophilus influenzae infection was more common in female patients (17.54%); the infection rates of these 2 bacteria are increasing annually. There were 304 (59.84%) strains of gram-negative bacteria, 172 (33.86%) strains of gram-positive bacteria and 32 (6.3%) strains of fungi. In children between 0 and 3 years old, the proportions of gram-negative bacteria were significantly higher than those of gram-positive bacteria in 2016–2017, 2018–2019 and 2020–2021 (p < 0.01). In every age group, the constituent ratio of gram-negative bacteria was significantly higher than that of gram-positive bacteria (p < 0.01) except for the 3–6-year age group. The proportion of Staphylococcus aureus in 2014–2015, 2016–2017, 2018–2019 and 2020–2021 was 25.64%, 25.20%, 22.98% and 16.44%, respectively. The proportion of H. influenzae in 2014–2015 was significantly lower than that in other years (p < 0.01). Haemolyticus staphylococcus and E. coli were more common in newborns, accounting for 19.12%. CONCLUSION: The pathogens of respiratory tract infection in children change dynamically. There are significant differences in pathogens of respiratory tract infections among different age groups, years and seasons. Clinicians should pay attention to changes in the pathogen spectrum and improve drug resistance monitoring.