Epidemiology and etiology of childhood pneumonia

Abstract

Childhood pneumonia is the leading single cause of mortality in children aged less than 5 years. The incidence in this age group is estimated to be 0.29 episodes per child-year in developing and 0.05 episodes per child-year in developed countries. This translates into about 156 million new episodes each year worldwide, of which 151 million episodes are in the developing world. Most cases occur in India (43 million), China (21 million) and Pakistan (10 million), with additional high numbers in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria (6 million each). Of all community cases, 7-13% are severe enough to be life-threatening and require hospitalization. Substantial evidence revealed that the leading risk factors contributing to pneumonia incidence are lack of exclusive breastfeeding, undernutrition, indoor air pollution, low birth weight, crowding and lack of measles immunization. Pneumonia is responsible for about 19% of all deaths in children aged less than 5 years, of which more than 70% take place in sub-Saharan Africa and south-east Asia. Although based on limited available evidence, recent studies have identified Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and respiratory syncytial virus as the main pathogens associated with childhood pneumonia.

Efficacy of vitamin D in children with pneumonia: a randomized control trial study

“…According to the estimation of the World Health Organization (WHO) nearly 156 million cases of pneumonia occurs every year in children of less than five years age and among this at least 20 million cases are serious enough requiring admittance to the hospital [2]. Of these total cases, developing countries account for 151 million cases and around 7 -13% are serious enough to endanger the life of a child without appropriate treatment.…”

Características e fatores associados à hospitalização nos primeiros anos de vida: coorte de nascimentos de Pelotas de 2004, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

“…Respiratory diseases are the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality in children under five years worldwide, especially in high-income countries 7,8 . In medium and low-income countries, infectious diseases are still important causes of hospitalization, despite the decline in hospitalizations from acute diarrhea since the advent of oral rehydration therapy and such interventions as maternal breastfeeding and immunizations 7,8,9 .…”

“…In medium and low-income countries, infectious diseases are still important causes of hospitalization, despite the decline in hospitalizations from acute diarrhea since the advent of oral rehydration therapy and such interventions as maternal breastfeeding and immunizations 7,8,9 .…”

Design and initiation of a study to assess the direct and indirect effects of influenza vaccine given to children in rural India

“…Among children less than 5 years of age in India, there are 43 million episodes of pneumonia and over 400,000 pneumonia deaths each year [7]. In the area in which the current study is ongoing, 11% of acute lower respiratory infections in young children are due to influenza [8].…”