Pneumonia in Bhutanese children: what we know, and what we need to know

Abstract Background Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in under-five children worldwide. We conducted a systematic review to identify the knowledge gaps around childhood pneumonia in Bhutan. Methods We searched PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google scholar from conception to 3rd December 2018, World Health Organization, UNICEF, Bhutan’s Ministry of Health and other local databases for relevant reports. We included any report describing pneumonia in Bhutanese children with regards to the burden of the disease, aetiology, related risk factors, clinical and prognostic characteristics, surveillance systems and national preventive strategies. Two review authors identified the records. We summarized the findings narratively. Results We included 44 records. Although with notable decreasing trends, pneumonia is still accountable for a high burden and mortality rate in Bhutanese children. The national surveillance system focuses mainly on influenza identification but has recently introduced other viral aetiology to monitor. We found very scarce or no data with regard to the bacterial aetiology, related risk factors and clinico-radiological and prognostic characteristics. Conclusion There is a dearth of data regarding the epidemiological, microbiological, clinical and radiological characteristics of pneumonia in children in Bhutan, leading to challenges while implementing evidence-based management and effective national preventive strategies.