More than 1 million children die from pneumonia each year

Every year in the world, 1.2 million children under 5 years of age die from pneumonia. The disease is caused by two types of pneumococcal streptococcus pneumoniae and haemophilus influenzae B.

Research by scientists from Johns Hopkins University in the US showed that about 14.5 million children under 5 years old worldwide suffer from pneumococcal diseases, such as pneumonia and inflammation. meningitis. In which, there are 826,000 deaths from streptococcus pneumoniae virus, every year.

Currently, there are effective and safe vaccines for these two viruses that cause pneumonia. However, researchers say that only vaccines against haemophilus influenzae are used in low-income countries, while streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine has not been included in the vaccination program of developing countries. .

" Research results show that we need to take effective measures to prevent this disease in developing countries ," said Dr. Kate O'Brien, head of the study. Vaccination and improvement of treatments are extremely urgent in countries in Asia and Africa. These two areas account for 95% of deaths from pneumonia . '

Another study by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) points out that effective measures to prevent malaria and efforts to reduce the number of mother-to-child transmission of AIDS have helped to reduce mortality rates. due to other diseases in children.

The study results show that about 8.8 million children under 5 years of age die in 2008, compared with 12.5 million in 1990. However, up to 99% of deaths for children under 5 are in poor countries.