Lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children are the most common cause of hospitalization among infant and children. It is a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In India, acute respiratory infection is also a serious problem accounting for 14.3% deaths during infancy and 15.9% death among children aged between 1-10 years. Recurrent Lower respiratory tract infection can be regarded as >3 annual episodes of documented Bronchitis, Bronchiolitis or Pneumonia. A literature search was conducted with the following search terms, key-words and phrases –‘Lower respiratory tract infections’, ‘Pneumonia’, ‘Bronchitis’, ‘Bronchiolitis’ ‘children’. The search was performed in the following databases – PubMed and Google Scholar. Considerable debate exists regarding the causes for the high prevalence of lower respiratory tract infection of children. The common risk factors of Lower respiratory tract infections including community acquired pneumonia are lack of exclusive breast feeding, poor sanitary conditions, under nutrition, lack of vaccination etc. There is a paucity of studies indicating the true burden of Lower respiratory tract infection in children and the nurses, role in the management of Lower respiratory tract infections. Hence identification of risk factors associated with Lower respiratory tract infection will help to effectively plan and implement the preventive measures for its reduction. Nurses can play a key role in identification and prevention of respiratory tract infections by early identification and educating the parents which in turn can reduce the incidence of morbidity and mortality.
