Announcement: World Pneumonia Day - November 12, 2016.

Abstract

November 12th marks the eighth annual World Pneumonia Day, observed to raise awareness of pneumonia as a global public health concern for persons of all ages and a leading infectious cause of death of children aged <5 years, causing approximately 900,000 child deaths annually (1). In the United States, the majority of the 53,000 annual pneumonia deaths occur in persons aged ≥65 years. Respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza, and Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria are among the leading causes of pneumonia; RSV annually causes an average of 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in adults aged ≥65 years in the United States (1,2). In addition, approximately 5,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease occur each year in the United States, a 286% increase from 2000-2014; the case fatality rate is about 10% (1).