World Pneumonia Day

World Pneumonia Day was created in 2009 by the Stop Pneumonia Initiative. This initiative was launched to raise awareness of pneumonia because it’s a leading killer of children all over the world. And pneumonia remains a serious condition to this day. In 2019, this disease claimed the lives of 2.5 million people around the world, and approximately 672,000 of them were children. Facts About Pneumonia If there’s one thing that we can confidently say about pneumonia, it’s that it’s a disease that flies under the radar for many people. Many people think that it’s not that serious of a disease, when in fact, the opposite is true. To show everyone reading this just how awful of disease pneumonia can be, we decided to list some of the facts we’ve uncovered about it below. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can cause severe illness in anyone—no matter their age. The most common cause of bacterial pneumonia is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Viruses and fungi can also cause pneumonia in people. In the U.S., over 43,000 people die a year from pneumonia. Only about 68% of U.S adults age 65 or older receive the pneumococcal vaccine. Pneumonia accounts for 15% of all deaths for children under the age of 5 worldwide. Pneumonia can be treated with adequate nutrition, addressing environmental factors, and immunization. Only a third of children in the world with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need. Parental smoking, burning of biomass fuels, cooking, and living in crowded homes can all contribute to a child’s susceptibility to pneumonia. Pneumonia symptoms may include excessive sweating, high fever, chills, chest pain, difficulty breathing, fatigue, and a cough that gets worth.