Author(s)

Didi Stanine Mefo Kue¹, Jeannette Epee Ngoue^2,3, Annie Carole Nga Motaze^3,4, Aude Sabine Nanfack⁵, Anne Esther Njom-Nlend^1,3,4*

¹Higher Institute of Medical Technology Nkolondom, Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon.
²Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
³Cameroon Society of Perinatal Medicine, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁴Essos Hospital Centre, National Social Insurance Fund, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
⁵Ministry of Economy and Development, Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Introduction: Respiratory pathologies are top listed amongst neonatal morbidities. Our objective was to describe the clinical features, causes and treatment of respiratory distress (RD) in full and post term neonates in a tertiary health center in Yaoundé, the Essos Hospital Centre (EHC). Patients and Method: This was a retrospective study. Full/post term neonates with RD from January 2017-December 2018 were included. Main parameters: incidence of RD, etiologies, risk factors for severity and mortality. Results: We included 186 neonates among 2312 newborn babies. The RD prevalence rate was 8%. Sex ratio of 2.15 was favoring male, median gestational age of 38 weeks. Clinical signs of RD were dominated by a Silverman score above 4/10 in 64%. Main etiologies were pneumonia (44%), followed by transient tachypnea (35.4). Perinatal asphyxia (OR = 9.412, P = 0.005) and cyanosis (OR = 6.509; P < 0.001) were worsening RD, while caesarian section was protective (OR = 0.412; P = 0.050). Mortality rate (MR) was 10.4%. Therapeutic measures briefly consisted in oxygen therapy for 98.9% of patients and probabilistic antibiotic therapy. Conclusion: Neonatal pneumonia was the preeminent etiology of RD in this population; the MR was high.

Neonatal Infection, Respiratory Distress, Term Neonates, Transient Tachypnea, Respiratory Distress, Yaoundé

Kue, D. , Ngoue, J. , Motaze, A. , Nanfack, A. and Njom-Nlend, A. (2021) Respiratory Distress in Full and Post Term Neonates: Prevalence, Etiologies and Outcomes in a Tertiary Health Center in Yaoundé. Open Journal of Pediatrics, 11, 351-359. doi: 10.4236/ojped.2021.113032.