Pneumonia, diarrhoea, tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV among children and adolescents in Ecuador: A cross-sectional national study, 2015-2021

Abstract Background This study aimed to determine the distribution, burden, age groups, and differences in morbidity cumulative incidence of pneumonia, infectious diarrhoea, tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV infection among the 0–18-year-old population in Ecuador from 2015 to 2021. Methods Hospital morbidity data from patients aged 0–18 were analysed and filtered using the ICD-10 coding of the diseases studied. Data were processed using RStudio from the anonymised online database of the National Institute of Statistics and Census. Results Pneumonia was the most common infectious disease studied in Ecuador, with the highest burden in the provinces of Pichincha and Guayas. Most cases were reported in children aged 0–5 years, with the lowest cumulative incidence of 17 per 104 population (pop) in 2021. Diarrhoea had the highest incidence in the Guayas. Cases occurred mainly in children aged 0–5 years, with the lowest cumulative incidence of 8.58 per 104 pop in 2020. Tuberculosis mainly affected the province of Guayas. The 0–5 age group accounted for 41% of infections; the cumulative incidence decreased to 0.25 per 104 pop in 2021. Malaria mainly affected Esmeraldas province. Adolescents aged 13–18 were the most infected group, and the cumulative incidence increased to 0.07 per 104 pop in 2021. HIV mainly affects the Guayas Province. 50% of reported cases occurred in the 6–12 age group, and the lowest cumulative incidence was 0.18 per 104 pop in 2021. Conclusions Pneumonia and diarrhoeal were identified as the most common infectious diseases in the paediatric population of Ecuador. The provinces of Pichincha and Guayas had the highest burden of infectious diseases. The results of this study can help develop targeted public health interventions to reduce the morbidity cumulative incidence of these diseases in Ecuador.