Infecções Respiratórias de Importância Clínica: uma Revisão Sistemática

Respiratory diseases are defined as infections that obstruct the air passage both at the upper and lower respiratory tract and are among the infections with the highest morbidity and mortality rate in the world. Objectives: This study aims to analyze the respiratory infections of clinical importance and their main etiological agents, compiling the types of infections, the most prevalent etiological agents, and the main study sites. Materials and Methods: This is a systematic review performed through articles published between 2010 and 2016 in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The electronic collect was conducted using the MEDLINE / PubMed and BVS databases and using the following descriptors, respiratory tract infection, epidemiology, mortality, and transmission, indexed in Medical Subject Headings database (MeSH). Results: Following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 studies were selected for review. It was noticeable the high index of publications of Brazil referring to the subject, followed by China, USA, Austria and United Kingdom. It was observed that most of the studies mentioned influenza as the predominant respiratory clinical pathology. It is evident that the main cause of the respiratory infections was the viral etiologic agent followed by bacteria. Conclusion: We found a high geographical distribution of the studies related to the topic, where Brazil was highlighted as the country in which there were more publications. However, the subject is still little discussed given the socioeconomic impact caused by it. Concerning the etiological agents that cause respiratory infections, viruses prevailed, suggesting a better diagnostic approach to this type of infection. Key words: Respiratory Tract Infection. Epidemiology. Mortality. Transmission, Viral Infection, Bacterial Infection.