PNEUMONIA

About:

• What is it? Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs.
  • The lungs are made up of small sacs called alveoli, which fill with air when a healthy person breathes.
    
    
  • When an individual has pneumonia, the alveoli are filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits oxygen intake.
    
    
  
  
  
• Causes: Pneumonia is caused by a number of infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria and fungi. The most common are –
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae – the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in children;
    
    
  • Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) – the second most common cause of bacterial pneumonia;
    
    
  
  
  
• Transmission: Pneumonia can be spread in a number of ways via air-borne droplets from a cough or sneeze or blood, especially during and shortly after birth.
  
  
• Prevention: Pneumonia can be prevented by immunization, adequate nutrition, and by addressing environmental factors.
  
  
• Treatment: Pneumonia caused by bacteria can be treated with antibiotics.
  
  
• Deaths caused by it: According to WHO, Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. Pneumonia killed 808 694 children under the age of 5 in 2017, accounting for 15% of all deaths of children under five years old.
  
  
• The WHO and UNICEF integrated Global action plan for pneumonia and diarrhoea (GAPPD) aims to accelerate pneumonia control with a combination of interventions to protect, prevent, and treat pneumonia in children.