PECULIARITIES OF THE CLINICAL COURSE OF INFLUENZA-ASSOCIATED PNEUMONIA

It was found that in 2017, compared to 2016, in the Poltava region there were 6 times fewer cases of influenza, as indirectly indicated by the number of hospitalized patients due to this pathology in PRCIH. But despite this, the incidence of pneumonia, which complicated the course of influenza according to the data of PRCIH, remained at a consistently high level (20.84% in 2016 and 20.19% in 2017). It was demonstrated that the clinical course of pneumonia as a complication of influenza had some peculiarities. These peculiarities were observed as early as in the initial period of the disease with a predominance of the symptoms of toxic syndrome. This can mask the symptoms of early development of pneumonia and cause hospitalization of patients at a later date. Substantially half of patients had a bilateral inflammatory process, wherein physical changes (auscultatory pattern of pneumonia and a decrease in pulse oxygen saturation) preceded the radiological changes. The course of pneumonia in a significant number of patients was severe with the need for oxygen therapy. Sputum culture in patients with a pneumonia as a complication of influenza more often demonstrated the pathogens such as Stretococcus pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus.