2-3 children die every hour from pneumonia in BD

UNB :
Approximately 2-3 children die every hour from pneumonia in Bangladesh, according to icddr,b.

In Bangladesh, at least 24,000 children die every year, which is 24% of all deaths in under-five children-exceeding the global average, results from multiple studies show.

Globally, pneumonia remained the top infectious killer of children under five, with 0.7 million deaths annually-representing 14% of all such deaths.

The research papers were presented on Thursday at a discussion event, organised by icddr,b, titled “Childhood Pneumonia: Are We Doing Enough?” in the lead-up to World Pneumonia Day which is observed on November 12 every year.

Dr Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, a senior scientist at icddr,b, presented some of icddr,b’s research studies on pneumonia conducted by himself, Dr Nur Haque Alam, Dr K Zaman, and Dr Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman, that have been successfully trialled and piloted in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

The previous five years have seen stagnation at roughly 7.4 fatalities per thousand live births, coupled with an estimated 4 million new cases and roughly 677,000 hospitalisations annually, according to icddr,b.
This is in spite of significant reductions in mortality over the decades. Dr Chisti highlighted that the causes of pneumonia in children in Bangladesh differ from the global scenario.

He emphasised the unique causes of pneumonia in hospitalised Bangladeshi children, with studies from 2019 and 2021 illustrating a high prevalence of antibiotic-resistant gram-negative bacteria.

These findings show that rare gram-negative bacteria are emerging as new causes of childhood pneumonia, he said.

Addressing preventative strategies, Dr Chisti pointed to icddr,b research confirming that improving air quality within homes could halve pneumonia mortality risks, while hand washing could reduce cases by around 21%.