THE DUAL RISK OF MORTALITY AND MORBIDITY IN INFANTS WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE AND PNEUMONIA INFECTION AND VIRAL AETIOLOGYWASEEMA SULTANA, MOTE SRINATH, VANNAVADA SUDHA RANI, PALKONDA SHASHIKALA REDDY, POODARI MEGHA MALA RAO, HIMABINDU SINGH AND SYEDA FAKIHA MEHREENAbstract Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) are at an elevated risk for severe respiratory illness, with pneumonia infection posing a particular threat. CHD patients hospitalized with pneumonia have mortality and morbidity rates higher compared to those without pneumonia infection. However, it remains unclear whether viral pneumonia infection determine recent morbidity and mortality rates from pneumonia infection in a paediatric CHD population and the prevalence of viral aetiology in the pneumonia infection. We enrolled 100 infants with congenital anomalies of these 64 with CHD, including those with (n=32) and without (n=32) pneumonia, remaining 36 with different congenital anomalies with Upper and Lower Respiratory Tract Infection were excluded. We collected nasopharyngeal swab samples and recorded demographic data and clinical history. The samples were then processed for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) A and B specific RNA using a real-time PCR kit. All infants enrolled in this study were aged between 0-12 months, with 37 males and 27 females. Among the infants with pneumonia, one male and one female were infected with both RSV A and B, and died during treatment due to Congestive Heart Failure. Our results indicate that CHD patients with pulmonary hypertension is associated with increased mortality rates compared to the children without pneumonia. The RSV viral aetiology is observed as 6.25% in children with pneumonia with 100% mortality. These findings underscore the importance of careful monitoring and timely intervention in CHD patients with pulmonary hypertension, particularly those with RSV infection. Further studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms contributing to the elevated mortality risk associated with RSV infection in this vulnerable population. |