Severe pneumonia in Young smokers in the province of Buenos Aires

Abstract

Introduction: Smoking is related to morphological alterations of the bronchial mucosa epithelium. In Argentina, 33.4% of the population between 18 and 64 years of age are smokers, with a predominance in the lower income areas of the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.6 million people die of pneumonia every year, with smoking being a major risk factor for its development. Materials and methods: A prospective observational descriptive study was carried out at the Eurnekian Hospital in Ezeiza to describe the evolution of young adult patients with severe pneumonia. Data was collected through anamnesis and review of physical medical records of patients admitted with a diagnosis
of pneumonia. 
Results: Thirty-eight young immunocompetent patients hospitalized with pneumonia were analyzed. The average age was 40 years, with a predominance of males (70.7%). The average number of years of consumption was 20, and 20 patients (55.2%) of the total were minors at the beginning of their smoking habit. With regard to the presence of previous pathologies, 7 patients (18.2%) were diabetic, 9 were hypertensive, 3 had suffered an acute myocardial infarction, 4 had suffered a cerebrovascular accident; 3 had advanced heart failure, 1 had renal failure and 3 had suffered tuberculosis for which they had received full treatment. 
With regard to oxygen saturation on admission to hospital, 8 patients had saturation levels of between 80-84.9%, 21 between 85-90% and 9 >90%. The average length of stay in hospital was 5.8 days, with only 9 patients being hospitalized for between 10-14 days. 
Conclusion: The results show that the onset of smoking habit is prior to the age of majority. We believe it is advisable to carry out more campaigns for the prevention of addictions and smoking cessation in adolescents and young adults, with an emphasis on primary health prevention.