Pneumonia cases among children highest in India: WHO
POSTED September 12, 2009 - 16:27 | POSTED BY Jaspreet Kaur
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on September 12, 2009 - 20:32
The study found that there are two major causes of pneumonia: streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae type b [Hib]. These two infections are responsible for killing approximately 1.2 million children under the age of five each year.
Hib led to approximately 8.1 million serious illnesses worldwide in the year 2000 alone. It was a cause for 371,000 child deaths. Asia and Africa are the biggest contributors of pneumococcal disease.
India had the maximum, i.e., 72000 deaths in the year 2000 because of Hib.
Asia and Africa the major contributors of the disease
The present study details reveal that there were about 14.5 million cases of pneumococcal disease across the globe in 2000. It took the lives of 826,000 children under the age of five. Out of the total 14.5 million pneumococcal cases, 95 percent were ascribed to pneumonia.
The highest number of pneumococcal cases, i.e., 51 percent, was discovered in Asia. This is attributed to the high population in the continent.
Approximately 54 percent of pneumococcal deaths occurred in Africa due to shortage of vaccines, high incidences of HIV infection and lack of access to medical facilities.
Statistical details
India (27 per cent), China (12 per cent), Nigeria (5 per cent), Pakistan (5 per cent), Bangladesh (4 per cent), Indonesia (3 per cent), Ethiopia (3 per cent), Democratic Republic of the Congo (3 per cent), Kenya (2 per cent) and the Philippines (2 per cent) contributed to the highest number of pneumococcal cases in the world.
This makes up a total of 66 percent cases of the world, which is very high.
Dr Mathuram Santosham, professor of International Health and Paediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was quoted as saying, “Pneumococcal disease takes the lives of more than 140,000 Indian children every year - that is one child every four minutes. Just one of our children dying of a preventable disease is one too many, particularly when affordable solutions are now available to the public sector.”
The latest study will be published in the next edition of the Lancet.
