Pneumonia is a neglected problem: it is now time to act

Abstract

Nov 12, 2018, marks World Pneumonia Day, the purpose of which is to increase awareness that pneumonia is a major global clinical and public health issue. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 showed that lower respiratory infections infected 291·8 million people worldwide, and led to more than 2·7 million deaths. 1 Wardlaw TM Johansson EW Hodge MJ Pneumonia: the forgotten killer of children. UN Children's Fund/World Health Organization, 2006http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/43640/9280640489_eng.pdf;jsessionid=EEC808536DF18984B57B5AE25C78BEDF?sequence=1Date accessed: November 11, 2018 Google Scholar , 2 GBD 2015 Chronic Respiratory Disease CollaboratorsGlobal, regional, and national deaths, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years, and years lived with disability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet Respir Med. 2017; 5: 691-706 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1360) Google Scholar 2018 also marks a century since the 1918–19 influenza pandemic caused 50–100 million deaths. 3 Paules C Subbarao K Influenza. Lancet. 2017; 390: 697-708 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (427) Google Scholar Mortality for seasonal influenza still remains unacceptable: 80 000 people died from influenza in the USA alone in 2017. 4 Dyer O US had record flu deaths last year, says CDC. BMJ. 2018; 363: k4136 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar Influenza affects everyone regardless of age, race, sex, and income, and remains a major cause of pneumonia despite the development of effective vaccines. 5 Sullivan SG Feng S Cowling BJ Potential of the test-negative design for measuring influenza vaccine effectiveness: a systematic review. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2014; 13: 1571-1591 Crossref PubMed Scopus (118) Google Scholar