8/8/2019 Childhood Pneumonia- Fact Sheet
1/8
Globally, every 15 seconds, a child dies of pneumonia. Almost all of these deaths occur in
countries such as ours.
Pneumonia causes more child deaths than any other illness. The death toll due to
childhood pneumonia is higher than the total deaths due to AIDS, malaria and measles
combined.1
One in five child deaths in the world due to pneumonia occur in India. It is the number one
cause of child deaths in India.
In India 20%, or one in five, deaths of children under the age of five years are due topneumonia.
Pneumonia kills over 400,000 children in India each year; highest in the world.2 This is
roughly equivalent to a school bus full of young children dying every hour.
In India, one child younger than five years of age is affected by pneumonia every second. 3
Early diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia is the key to survival; however mothers
generally fail to recognize the early symptoms like cough and wheezing.
Two out of five cases from the poorest families do not seek treatment for acute respiratory
infection (ARI), even when children have identifiable symptoms.4,5 Families often delay
treatment for girls more than boys in some states of India.
Treatment with appropriate antibiotics can prevent child deaths due to pneumonia. In India,
only 10-20% of the children affected by ARI, receive antibiotics for treatment.5
Immediate breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and exclusive breastfeeding till the
age of six months confers protective benefits to the infant against infections such as
pneumonia. In India, less than 50% of children are exclusively breastfed upto six months of
age.5
Immunization against measles and pertussis (whooping cough) can reduce the risk of
pneumonia. Only half the children receive measles vaccination before completion of 12months of age or the required three doses of the Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus (DPT)
vaccine.5
Fact Sheet
1 United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organization (WHO). Pneumoniathe Forgotten Killer of
Children. September 2006. ISBN-13:978-92-806-4048-9/ISBN-10:92-806-4048-82 Rudan I, Tomaskovic L, Boschi-Pinto C, Campbell H. Global estimate of the incidence of clinical pneumonia among children
under five years of age. Bull World Health Organ. 2004;82:895903.3 Calculated based on data available from- Rudan I, Tomaskovic L, Boschi-Pinto C, Campbell H. Global estimate of the
incidence of clinical pneumonia among children under five years of age. Bull World Health Organ. 2004;82:895903.4 Includes children with symptom of rapid breathing which is one of the diagnostic symptoms of pneumonia.5 International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and Macro International. 2007. National Family Health Survey (NFHS-
3), 2005-06:India:Volume I. Mumbai: IIPS.
Pne
umoniaispre
ventableand
treatable
USAIDFROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
UNIT
EDSTATESAG
ENCY
INTERNATIONALDEVEL
OPM
ENT
USAID
8/8/2019 Childhood Pneumonia- Fact Sheet
2/8
The contents of this leaf are made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Emerging Markets Group
Ltd. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
8/8/2019 Childhood Pneumonia- Fact Sheet
3/8
Reshmas Survival Story:
Not all is well
Every second in India, a child falls sick with the
number one killer, pneumonia. It is estimated that
pneumonia kills one child younger than five years
of age almost every minute, or four lakh children a
year. This is an unacceptable fact considering that
pneumonia can be prevented and treated simply and
inexpensively. However, all that is known has not
been put to action. Reshmas story describes this
unmistakably.
1 Reshmas story was shared by Sayan Chatterjee (MD student) and Sriram Krishnamurthy (Assistant Professor). Lady Hardinge
Medical College and Kalawati Saran Childrens Hospital
T
hetimetoactisnowUSAID
FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
UNIT
EDSTATESAG
ENCY
INTERNATIONALDEVEL
OPM
ENT
USAID
ReshmalivesinasluminDelhiwithherparent
sandfoursiblings.HerfamilymigratedfromA
ssam
fewyearsagoinsearchofabetterstandardof
living.Reshmasfatherisadailywager,earnin
g
aboutRupees100perday,whenheiscontract
ed. Hereldestbrother,whoisonly12yearsol
d,
worksatateashopearningRupees800perm
onth.
Attheageofthree,Reshmaweighsonly9kgs,
muchbelowthenormalweightforherage.Sh
ehas
notreceivedalltherecommendedvaccinat
ions. Shehashadtwoepisodesofpneumonia
inthelast
sixmonths.Herfamilyconsultedanearbyprivatepractitionerfortreatmentduringthefi
rstepisode.
Herconditionimprovedandsymptomsofcoug
h,feverandfastbreathinggraduallydisappeare
dwith
theuseoforalantibiotic. Thefamilydidnothav
eenoughfinancestoconsultaprivatepractition
er
duringthesecondepisode.Theypostponedsee
kingmedicaladviceandtreatmenttillReshmas
conditionbecamevisiblylifethreatening.Shew
asfinallytakentoagovernmenthospitalwhere
shereceivedpromptmedicalattention.Reshm
arecoveredafter14daysofhospitalization.Th
ough
thefamilydidnotincuranydirectmedicalexpe
nses,Reshmasfatherlosthisdailywagesfor
the
durationofherhospitalstay. Therewereothe
rexpensespertainingtotransportationandRes
hmas
medicalandnutritionalneedsafterhospitaldis
charge.Herfamilywasforcedtoborrowmoney
from
alocalmoneylenderatanexorbitantinterestra
tetosustaineventhefamilysbasicneeds
1.
IfReshmasfamilyhadactedquicklyandtakenhertothegovernmenthealthfac
ilitywhen
thesymptomsofcoughinganddifficultbreathin
gfirststarted,Reshmamaynothaverequired
hospitalizationandthefamilywouldnothaveh
adtospendsomuchonhertreatment.
Coughanddifficultbreathinginachildme
anspneumonia,seektreatment
immediately.
8/8/2019 Childhood Pneumonia- Fact Sheet
4/8
The
now
timeto
actis
Preventing childhood pneumonia requires a multi-faceted approach. Children who are not
fully immunized and get preventable childhood diseases such as measles and/or whooping
cough are at risk of pneumonia. Factors in the home that put children at risk of pneumonia
include overcrowded living, tobacco smoke and smoke from open chullahs(cooking fires).
Weak children are at greater risk of acquiring pneumonia. These include, children whoare undernourished, are born weighing less than 2500 grams, and are sick with measles,
whooping cough or infected by HIV. Families can prevent pneumonia by:
ensuring their newborns and infants are fully immunized,
initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth, practicing exclusive breastfeeding for the first
six months and providing sufficient healthy complementary foods once children reach six
months, and
eliminating indoor smoke by using smokeless chullahsand prohibiting smoking in the home.
Early recognition of symptoms and prompt treatment seeking by caregivers can preventdeterioration of the illness and can save poor families from a financial catastrophe. Rural
children, children of non/less educated mothers and those coming from poor families are less
likely to seek treatment. Paradoxically, these children are at greatest risk of acquiring and
dying of pneumonia.
Preventive measures like practicing exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, providing
appropriate nutrition to children based on daily requirements for essential nutrients, growth
monitoring and vaccination amongst others will go a long way in reducing the incidence of
pneumonia.
However, once the child is affected, the key to survival is timely recognition and prompttreatment. Pneumonia begins as something less severe and if detected on time can be
managed effectively with inexpensive antibiotics.
Pneumonia kills more children than any other disease. This silent killer claims more
children every year in India than the total casualties of tsunami in 2004 across 11
countries.
The contents of this leaf are made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of Emerging Markets Group
Ltd. and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
8/8/2019 Childhood Pneumonia- Fact Sheet
5/8
Frequently Asked Questions
on Childhood Pneumonia
What is pneumonia?
Pneumonia is a severe acute lower respiratory infection that specifically affects the lungs. Pusand fluid fill the alveoli, the smallest air spaces in the lungs, and make it difficult to absorboxygen.1,2
How do I identify pneumonia? What are the commonsymptoms?
Rapid breathing is the most sensitive sign of pneumonia. There are different cut-offs forbreathing rate (that is, number of breaths per minute) depending on the age of the child. 3
Other symptoms include cough, fever, chills, loss of appetite and wheezing.
In severe pneumonia, children may experience lower chest wall indrawing, where their chestsmove in during inhalation (in a healthy person, the chest expands during inhalati
