Epidemiology of community-acquired pneumonia in children of Latin America and the Caribbean: a systematic review and meta-analysis

SummaryBackgroundThis systematic review evaluated the incidence, etiology, and use of resources in bacterial, non-tuberculosis community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in immune-competent children aged <5 years.MethodsSystematic searches (1980–2008) were performed using MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, LILACS, generic, and academic Internet searches. Regional health ministries, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), regional proceedings, doctoral theses, and the reference lists of included studies were also searched, and experts were consulted. Arcsine transformations and the DerSimonian–Laird random-effects model were used for proportion meta-analyses.ResultsThe search yielded 1220 references; 60 were included in the meta-analysis, giving a total 23 854 CAP episodes with an incidence of 919/100 000 child-years in children aged