Main causes of mortality to respiratory diseases in children aged 0 to 4 years from 2015 to 2020

Abstract

Introduction: The majority of respiratory diseases fall into the group of preventable causes and, therefore, high mortality rates in children are a reflection of socioeconomic development conditions, beyond measure the access and the quality of health services. Objective: Evaluate the mortality by respiratory diseases in children younger than 4 years of age in Brazil, in the period from 2015 to 2020. Methodology: It is about ecologic study from time series, retrospective, of quantitative approach, with emphasis on the five respiratory diseases more evident in children of up to 4 years in Brazil, between the years from 2015 to 2020. Data was collected by DATASUS, being used by Microsoft Excel to subsidize the processing steps and analysis. Results: The analysis shows pneumonia as the main cause of death in the country, and, from the regional analysis, the North region can have rates that exceed other regions under the period observed. The same trend is observed in the analysis from the other respiratory infections, although it is important to emphasize the decline of mortality in all variables and regions observed in 2020. Conclusions: It is concluded that the higher rates of mortality between children in Brazil ratifies the premise that respiratory affections are directly proportional to socioeconomic vulnerability, while the vaccination coverage and the availability of beds contribute to the reduction of indicators. However, in 2020, there was an evident steep drop due to coronavirus preventive measures and, from smaller demand to attendance, higher probability of underreporting of cases.