Pneumonia is a common respiratory infection affecting millions of people every year. It is an infection of the lungs that can cause mild to severe illness in people of all ages. Pneumonia can be caused by viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Approximately one-third of pneumonia cases in the United States are caused by respiratory viruses, most commonly the influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (American Lung Association, 2017).
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Worldwide, pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in children, accounting for 15% to 18% of all deaths of children less than 5 years of age (more than 2 million children). More than 99% of the deaths from pneumonia occur in the developing world. It affects children and families everywhere but is most prevalent in resource-poor countries in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016). For every child who dies of pneumonia in a developed country, more than 2,500 children die of it in developing countries every day. Mortality is strongly linked to poverty-related factors such as poor nutrition, lack of safe water and sanitation, indoor air pollution, and inadequate access to health care. In the United States, each year over 1 million children and adults are admitted to the hospital for pneumonia (UNICEF, 2017). Yet this disease is one of the world’s most solvable public health problems (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017; International Vaccine Access Center [IVAC], 2013; WHO, 2016).
Most healthy people recover from pneumonia in 1 to 3 weeks, but pneumonia can be life threatening (American Lung Association, 2017).
November 12th has been designated as World Pneumonia Day with the slogan “Every breath counts” in an effort to increase worldwide awareness of the global burden of pneumonia and treatment options that can help reduce childhood (as well as adult) mortality and morbidity from the disease (Stop Pneumonia, 2017).