Lower respiratory tract infection

Lower respiratory tract infection
Depiction of a person with LRTI
SpecialtyPulmonology Edit this on Wikidata
Frequency291 million (2015)[1]
Deaths2.74 million (2015)[2]

Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a term often used as a synonym for pneumonia but can also be applied to other types of infection including lung abscess and acute bronchitis. Symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, fever, coughing and fatigue.[3] A routine chest X-ray is not always necessary for people who have symptoms of a lower respiratory tract infection.[4]

Influenza affects both the upper and lower respiratory tracts.[citation needed]

Antibiotics are the first line treatment for pneumonia; however, they are neither effective nor indicated for parasitic or viral infections. Acute bronchitis typically resolves on its own with time.[citation needed]

In 2015 there were about 291 million cases.[1] These resulted in 2.74 million deaths down from 3.4 million deaths in 1990.[5][2] This was 4.8% of all deaths in 2013.[5]

The World Health Organization has reported that, in 2021, "Lower respiratory infections remained the world’s most deadly communicable disease other than COVID-19, ranked as the fifth leading cause of death." However, the number of deaths caused has decreased by around 13% from 2000 to 2021. [6]

  1. ^ a b "Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1545–1602. October 2016. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)31678-6. PMC 5055577. PMID 27733282.
  2. ^ a b "Global, regional, and national life expectancy, all-cause mortality, and cause-specific mortality for 249 causes of death, 1980-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015". Lancet. 388 (10053): 1459–1544. October 2016. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31012-1. PMC 5388903. PMID 27733281.
  3. ^ Antibiotic Expert Group (2014). Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic (15th ed.). Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. ISBN 978-0-9925272-1-1.
  4. ^ Cao AM, Choy JP, Mohanakrishnan LN, Bain RF, van Driel ML (2013-12-26). "Chest radiographs for acute lower respiratory tract infections". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013 (12): CD009119. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009119.pub2. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC 6464822. PMID 24369343.
  5. ^ a b "Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013" (PDF). Lancet. 385 (9963): 117–71. January 2015. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61682-2. hdl:10379/13075. PMC 4340604. PMID 25530442.
  6. ^ "The top 10 causes of death". www.who.int. Retrieved 2024-08-12.