News
Monday, November 21, 2011
One in every 4 children dies of pneumonia in Pakistan
KARACHI: Medical experts have said that pneumonia kills nearly two million children every year in the world under the age of five, while in Pakistan, one in every four children deaths are attributable to the disease.
More than 150 million cases of pneumonia report every year among children under five in developing countries, account for more than 95 percent of all new cases worldwide. Some diseases, like measles and pertussis (whooping cough), can lead to pneumonia as a complication. Children with HIV are 40 times more likely to contract pneumococcal disease than HIV-negative children, and may be more likely to contract antibiotic-resistant strains of the disease.
World Pneumonia Day is marked on Nov 12 every year. The day is marked to raise awareness about pneumonia as a public health issue and help to prevent millions of preventable child deaths from pneumonia that occur each year.
An estimated 10 million cases of pneumonia report each year. The highest morbidity and mortality rates for pneumonia have been reported in developing countries. For every child that dies of pneumonia in the developed world, 2,000 more die in developing countries. 98 percent of pneumonia deaths occur in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, as estimated.
It is an infection of lungs that fills them with a type of fluid, causes cough, fever and respiratory problem. Pneumonia can be fatal in severe conditions such as causative factors. Bacteria such as pneumococcus and Hib are estimated to cause, globally, more than 50 percent of pneumonia deaths in children under five years of age.
Medical experts say that children mainly from two to fives years of age are at great risk of pneumonia. Tobacco and other indoor pollution can also increase the risk of the disease.
Children and adults suffering from other diseases like HIV/AIDs, are at greater risk of dying from pneumonia.
Each year, in developing countries, more than 150 million cases of pneumonia occur in young children, and more than 11 million of them need hospitalisation.
They say more than one million children’s lives could be saved annually with excessive use of vaccines and improved access to antibiotics. ppi
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk