Pneumonia kills 24,000 children in Bangladesh every year: icddr,b

Pneumonia kills around 24,000 children in Bangladesh every year, accounting for 24% of all under-five deaths, surpassing the global average. This translates to 2-3 children dying from pneumonia every hour.

Despite the alarming statistics, only 60% of parents seek medical care when their children exhibit pneumonia symptoms. Due to a lack of awareness, 40% of children do not receive essential treatment.

These sobering facts were revealed at an event, "Childhood Pneumonia: Are We Doing Enough?" organised by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) on Thursday.

Vaccination and adequate breast-feeding until six months of age, followed by complementary feeding can reduce deaths from pneumonia, said experts. 

Prominent paediatric specialist Dr Abid Hossain Mollah of Birdem General Hospital and Ibrahim Medical College provided the foundational perspective, characterising pneumonia as an inflammation of the lungs primarily leading to coughing, which generally gets better within 2-4 weeks but can escalate to respiratory distress or even death. 

It was noted that the young, the elderly, and individuals with existing heart or lung conditions are especially prone to severe pneumonia, potentially requiring medical treatment.

Dr Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, a senior scientist at icddr,b, presented some recent 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. 

Despite substantial reductions in mortality over the decades, the past five years have seen stagnation at about 7.4 deaths per thousand live births, alongside an estimated 4 million new cases and approximately 677,000 hospitalisations each year, said Dr Chisti. 

Alongside with the data, he highlighted the causes of pneumonia in children in Bangladesh, which differ from the global scenario. He emphasised the unique causes of pneumonia in hospitalised Bangladeshi children, with icddr,b 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.

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%. 

Vaccine studies conducted by icddr,b in 2007 and 2020 have identified vaccines suited to the local context, including the RSV vaccine for pregnant women, which is proving to be a valuable tool in preventing severe pneumonia and hypoxemia (low level of oxygen in the blood) in infants.

In terms of protective measures, exclusive breastfeeding practices have been shown to significantly decrease the risk of pneumonia, making infants 15 times less susceptible. 

The availability of pulse oximeters in health facilities, as shown in icddr,b's studies, has significantly improved survival rates, given that a substantial proportion of paediatric pneumonia patients require supplemental oxygen. 

Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director of icddr,b, said, "In the past, diarrhoea was the leading cause of child deaths, but now pneumonia is the leading cause of child mortality." 

He added, "There has been a lot of research on pneumonia in icddr,b which has been successfully trialled and piloted in other countries, including Bangladesh. Our main goal is to make these results and methods more accessible to people."