Pneumonia is a type of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. It can be prevented by immunization, adequate food and by controlling environmental factors. Nonetheless, pneumonia is the leading cause of death of children worldwide.
It is estimated that it kills about 1.4 million children under five years of age each year, more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics, but only about 30% of children with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need.
Pneumonia is a disease that can be caused by viruses, bacteria or fungi and that causes the alveoli of patients to be filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits the absorption of oxygen.
Pneumonia is the leading individual cause of infant mortality worldwide, accounting for 18% of all deaths of children under five years of age worldwide. Pneumonia affects children and their families around the world, but Its prevalence is higher in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
These children and their families could be protected by simple interventions and treated with medication and low cost care and simple technology.
Symptoms of pneumonia
The symptoms of viral pneumonia and those of bacterial pneumonia are similar, although those of viral pneumonia may be more numerous than those of bacterial pneumonia. Among them, rapid or difficult breathing, cough, fever, chills, loss of appetite, wheezing (more common in viral infections).
In cases of severe pneumonia, children may have subcostal circulation (depression or retraction of the lower thorax during inspiration). In infants, pneumonia can cause inability to consume food or liquids, as well as loss of consciousness, hypothermia and seizures.
Risk factors and prevention
Most healthy children can fight the infection through their natural defenses, but Immunosuppressed children have a higher risk of pneumonia. The child's immune system can be weakened by malnutrition or malnutrition, especially in infants not fed exclusively with breast milk.
The previous presence of diseases such as measles or asymptomatic HIV infections also increases the risk of a child getting pneumonia.
The following environmental factors also increase children's susceptibility to pneumonia: indoor air pollution caused by the use of biomass (such as firewood or excrement) as fuel for cooking or heating the home, living in overcrowded homes, tobacco use by the parents ...
For reduce infant mortality from pneumonia, prevention is essential. In 2009, WHO and UNICEF launched the Global Plan of Action for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia, which aims to accelerate pneumonia control by combining various interventions for the protection, prevention and treatment of the disease in children .
