India topped list of Pneumonia Mortality in Children Under the Age of Five

A study published in medical journal Lancet on 12 November 2011 mentioned that India has the highest number of flu-related pneumonia deaths among children. Flu-related pneumonia is also responsible for 28000 to 115000 deaths of children around the globe.

The study was conducted by the University of Edinburgh with support from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study was done between 1995 and 2010. The research was led by the University of Edinburgh and involved 47 researchers from 14 countries. They reviewed data from high income and developing countries and found 43 suitable studies with data for around eight million children.

This is the first of its kind study conducted in the world since earlier it was considered that ALRI was confined to elders only and not much attention was paid to children with this condition accounting for the total absence of data. According to WHO, though pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics, only about 30% of children receive the antibiotics they need.

Findings

The researchers found that in 2008, there had been about 111500 deaths of children under the age of five due to influenza and ALRI related diseases. It has further been noted that 99 per cent of the deaths took place in the developing countries.

The study estimated that 90 million cases of seasonal flu occur in under-five children each year globally. 20 million of these are flu-related pneumonia resulting in 1 million hospital admissions.

India has the highest number of flu-related pneumonia deaths among children with more than 370000 children under the age of five years dying due to pneumonia of which seven per cent die of flu-related pneumonia.

The estimates for India were based on influenza and pneumonia data from Ballabgarh in Haryana. Researchers estimated that although about 6,000 acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) deaths occurred in hospitals here in 2008, as many as three times this number could be occurring at home.

India contributes about a fourth of the global influenza-pneumonia deaths in children under the age of five. India is the world leader for pneumonia mortality in children under the age of five contributing to about a fourth of the global pneumonia deaths. Influenza is the second most common infection identified in children with pneumonia and contributes substantially to the burden of hospitalisation and mortality in young children.