Disease Burden Of Pneumonia Research Articles

Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis

BackgroundA pertinent risk factor of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and pneumonia is the exposure to major ambient air pollutants, with short term exposures to different air pollutants being shown to exacerbate several respiratory conditions.MethodsHere, using disease surveillance data comprising of reported disease case counts at the province level, high frequency ambient air pollutant and climate data in Thailand, we delineated the association between ambient air pollution and URTI/Pneumonia burden in Thailand from 2000 – 2022. We developed mixed-data sampling methods and estimation strategies to account for the high frequency nature of ambient air pollutant concentration data. This was used to evaluate the effects past concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) and the number of disease case count, after controlling for the confounding meteorological and disease factors.ResultsAcross provinces, we found that past increases in CO, SO2, and PM2.5 concentration were associated to changes in URTI and pneumonia case counts, but the direction of their association mixed. The contributive burden of past ambient air pollutants on contemporaneous disease burden was also found to be larger than meteorological factors, and comparable to that of disease related factors.ConclusionsBy developing a novel statistical methodology, we prevented subjective variable selection and discretization bias to detect associations, and provided a robust estimate on the effect of ambient air pollutants on URTI and pneumonia burden over a large spatial scale.

Relationship of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Parents /Guardians to Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Uptake Among Children Attending Immunization Services

The study sought to establish the relationship between the knowledge, attitude and practices of parents /guardians to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine uptake among children attending immunization services. This was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based quantitative and qualitative study. The study was conducted in Maternal Child Health (MCH) clinic and pediatric wards. It involved parents/caregivers (n= 104) bringing their children to the hospital. Simple random sampling was used to identify parent’s/guardian respondents. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from the correspondents. A key informant interview with the nurse in charge was also conducted. Data were analyzed using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0 computer package.  Research results were presented in frequency distribution tables, graphs pie charts and other forms of descriptive statistics. The study showed that there is an association between education and parental knowledge of vaccine uptake. There was a high level of awareness regarding the PCV availability in the hospital with the majority of parents /caregivers getting information from the health workers. The study recommends that: For PCV to reach effectively every child parents/guardians would need updated information tailored to the understanding of pneumonia disease burden and prevention. Information on PCV must be provided by well-informed and experience health personnel. Increase awareness in the community through increased sensitization and mass campaigns. Keywords: Relationship of knowledge, Attitude, Parents /Guardians, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, Immunization Services

Demographic Factors Related to Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Uptake Among Children Attending Immunization Services

The study sought to determine demographic factors related to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine uptake among children attending immunization services. This was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based quantitative and qualitative study. The study was conducted in Maternal Child Health (MCH) clinic and pediatric wards. It involved parents/caregivers (n= 104) bringing their children to the hospital. Simple random sampling was used to identify parent’s/guardian respondents. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect data from the correspondents. A key informant interview with the nurse in charge was also conducted. Data were analyzed using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18.0 computer package.  Research results were presented in frequency distribution tables, graphs pie charts and other forms of descriptive statistics. The study findings revealed that immunization uptake was statistically significantly associated with parity. The occupation of the guardian however didn’t show any significance to vaccine uptake. This study recommends that: For PCV to reach effectively every child parents/guardians would need updated information tailored to the understanding of pneumonia disease burden and prevention. Information on PCV must be provided by well-informed and experience health personnel. Increase awareness in the community through increased sensitization and mass campaigns Keywords: Demographic factors, Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, Parity, Occupation, Immunization services

Effect of the Pneumococcal Conjugated Vaccines on Burden of all Cause Pneumonia, Bacterial Pneumonia and Empyema in Children

The aim of this single-center retrospective study was to determine the changes in the burden of allcause pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia and empyema in children aged 0-18 years after the availability of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV7) and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13) in our country. Children aged 0-18 years who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of pneumonia and treated in Ankara between January 1, 2006 and December 30, 2019 were included in the study. The burden of disease according to the years was calculated as follows: after determining the number of patients with all-cause pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia and the empyema who were admitted to the pediatric infectious diseases service, we divided those numbers to admission numbers to all outpatient clinics in that year as the ratio in 100 000. The years 2006-2007 were accepted as pre-vaccine period, 2009-2010 as PCV7 period and 2012-2019 as PCV13 period. As 2008 and 2011 were the years when PCV7 and PCV13 vaccines implemented into the routine vaccination schedule, they were accepted as transition years and the patient data from these years were not used. All of the patients data were obtained from the patient files. There was a significant decrease in the disease burden of all-cause pneumonia in 0-18 years age and 0-24 months age group after PCV13 period compared to PCV7 period (p<0.001 and p<0.001). A statistically significant decrease was found in all-cause pneumonia among children older than 60 months after PCV13 period compared to PCV7 period and pre-vaccine period (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). When pre-PCV13 (PCV7 and pre-vaccine periods together) and post-PCV13 periods were compared; in 0-18 years age, 0-24 months age and 24-60 months age groups, there was a significant decrease in the burden of disease due to all-cause pneumonia after PCV13 (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.05) period. When the bacterial pneumonia disease burden in PCV13 period was evaluated, bacterial pneumonia disease burden in 0-18 years and 0-24 months age group was found to be significantly lower than in both pre-vaccine and PCV7 periods (p<0.001 and p<0.001). After PCV13 vaccine, the disease burden due to bacterial pneumonia was found to be significantly lower in 0-18 years age, 0-24 months age and older than 60 months age groups compared to pre-PCV13 period (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.01). When PCV7 and PCV13 periods were compared in 0-18 years age group, a significant decrease was found in hospitalizations due to empyema after PCV13 (p<0.05). In conclusion, PCV7 and PCV13 led to a significant reduction in the incidence of all-cause pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia in children.

Childhood pneumonia in New Zealand

While deaths from pneumonia during childhood in New Zealand (NZ) are now infrequent, childhood pneumonia remains a significant cause of morbidity. In this viewpoint, we describe pneumonia epidemiology in NZ and identify modifiable risk factors. During recent decades, pneumonia hospitalisation rates decreased, attributable in part to inclusion of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in NZ's immunisation schedule. Irrespective of these decreases, pneumonia hospitalisation rates are four times higher for Pacific and 60% higher for Māori compared with children of other ethnic groups. Consistent with other developed countries, hospitalisation rates for pneumonia with pleural empyema increased in NZ during the 2000s. Numerous factors contribute to childhood pneumonia acquisition, hospitalisation and morbidity in NZ include poor quality living environments, malnutrition during pregnancy and early childhood, incomplete and delayed vaccination during pregnancy and childhood and variable primary and secondary care management. To reduce childhood pneumonia disease burden, interventions should focus on addressing modifiable risk factors for pneumonia. These include using non‐polluting forms of household heating; decreasing cigarette smoke exposure; reducing household acute respiratory infection transmission; improving dietary nutritional content and nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood; breastfeeding promotion; vaccination during pregnancy and childhood and improving the quality of and decreasing the variance in primary and secondary care management of pneumonia.

A spatial analysis of geographic variation and factors associated with hospitalization for bacterial pneumonia in Korea

BackgroundThe incidence of pneumonia in Korea started to increase in the 1990’s after a period of decrease and stabilization, and the mortality and hospitalization rates for pneumonia in Korea are alarmingly high. This study was performed to examine geographic variation and factors associated with hospitalization for bacterial pneumonia in Korea.MethodsData were acquired from the inpatient claims of the 2015 period of the National Health Insurance Service. The age- and sex-standardized hospitalization rates for bacterial pneumonia were calculated for three age groups. Geographic variation was measured with the coefficient of variation, the ratio of the 90th to the 10th percentile of the distribution of rates, and the systematic component of variation. Considering the results of Moran’s I statistic which suggested spatial autocorrelation, we estimated spatial regression models using spatial error models.ResultsThe hospitalization rate for bacterial pneumonia was 79.1 per 10,000 population, and the rate was the highest in the age group 0–14 at 325.3, and it was 161.5 among the elderly. The geographic variation statistics showed high variation with the coefficient variation at 0.6. The deprivation score showed positive associations, and the number of primary care physicians had a negative association with the hospitalization rates across all age groups but the age group 0–14. The number of beds in hospitals with less than 300 beds had a positive association with the hospitalization rates for bacterial pneumonia, and the impact was the strongest in the age group 0–14.ConclusionsThe present study shows that pneumonia can be a major public health issue even in a developed country. Socioeconomic conditions can still be a concern for pneumonia in developed countries, and the role of primary care physicians in preventing hospitalization for bacterial pneumonia needs to be recognized. Most of all, the strong impact of hospital beds on the hospitalization rates for pneumonia, especially for the children, should be addressed. High disease burden of pneumonia in Korea can partly be attributable to oversupply of hospital beds. These factors should be taken into consideration in establishing policy measures for the rise in pneumonia.

An Ecological Analysis on National Trends and Correlation Between Public Funding for Pneumococcal Vaccination and Pneumonia Disease Burden in the Japanese Elderly Population, 2005-2012.

An Ecological Analysis on National Trends and Correlation Between Public Funding for Pneumococcal Vaccination and Pneumonia Disease Burden in the Japanese Elderly Population, 2005-2012.

Predictors to parental knowledge about childhood immunisation/EPI vaccines in two health districts in Cameroon prior to the introduction of 13-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCV-13).

IntroductionPneumonia is vaccine-preventable, but the increasing death toll resulting from the disease in Sub-Saharan Africa is alarming. Several factors account for vaccine failing to reach every child, besides incomplete vaccine coverage. Most of these include the perceptions of parents/guardians and healthcare providers. Previous studies on the introduction of new vaccines have focused on experimental trials, coverage figures and vaccine efficacy in developed countries. Little is known on the factors which may hinder the implementation process despite the huge challenges this may encounter in developing countries. This study described the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of parents/guardians on pneumonia and immunisations/EPI vaccines; identify predictive parental socio-economic/demographic characteristics that of good knowledge on pneumonia infections, routine EPI vaccines and the PCV-13. Finally, the study described health center personnel perceptions about immunisations.MethodsThe WHO's immunisation coverage cluster survey design was used, involving parents/guardians (n = 205) of children aged 0-59 months and health centre personnel (n = 13) directly concerned with vaccination activities between July-September 2010 in two health districts in Yaounde, Cameroon. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic models were used to analyse the parental/guardian data while the health personnel data was only analysed descriptively using SPSS version 17.0.ResultsOnly 19% of the parents/guardians were aware of the availability of the PCV-13. Logistic modelling identified important associations between parental socio-economic/demographic factors and good knowledge on pneumonia disease burden and prevention.ConclusionAccording to parents/guardians a short and clear message on the dangers of pneumonia and the need for prevention provided to parents/guardians during sensitisation/out-reach campaigns and use of social network avenues would be primordial, if the PCV-13 is to reach every child.

Rates of Emergency Department Visits Due to Pneumonia in the United States, July 2006-June 2009

Pneumonia hospitalization rates are frequently reported as a measure of pneumonia disease burden in the United States. However, a detailed understanding of pneumonia burden in all health care settings, including the emergency department (ED), is essential for measuring the full effect of this disease on the population and planning and evaluating interventions to reduce pneumonia-related morbidity. The aim of this study was to quantify pneumonia-attributable ED visits in the United States among children and adults during the 3-year period July 2006 through June 2009. Rates of pneumonia ED visits were calculated using the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS), the largest source of U.S. ED data. Pneumonia ED visits were identified using International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes within NEDS. A pneumonia ED visit was defined by a primary (first-listed) pneumonia discharge diagnosis or a secondary pneumonia diagnosis with an accompanying primary diagnosis of respiratory failure, shock, septicemia, a sign or symptom consistent with pneumonia, another acute respiratory infection, or an acute exacerbation of a chronic pulmonary disease. Population-based annual rates of pneumonia ED visits stratified by age group and geographic region from July 2006 through June 2009 were calculated. The percentages of pneumonia ED visits resulting in treat-and-release outpatient ED visits were also calculated within each age stratum. During the study period, 6,917,025 ED visits for pneumonia were identified, representing 2.2% of all U.S. ED visits. During the 3 study years, defined as July through June of 2006-2007, 2007-2008, and 2008-2009, pneumonia ED visit rates per 1,000 person-years were 7.4 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 7.0 to 7.8), 7.8 (95% CI = 7.3 to 8.2), and 7.6 (95% CI = 7.1 to 8.0), respectively. Annual rates were stable over the 3 years within each age group and geographic region. Overall, 39.3% of pneumonia ED visits, including 74.5% of pediatric and 28.1% of adult visits, were managed as treat-and-release outpatient visits. Pneumonia accounts for 2.2% of ED visits in the United States and results in approximately seven to eight ED visits per 1000 persons per year. A substantial proportion of pneumonia cases diagnosed in the ED are managed in treat-and-release ED outpatient visits, highlighting that enumeration of ED visit rates provides important complementary information to hospitalization rates for the assessment of pneumonia burden.

The Burden of Childhood Pneumonia in the Developed World

Estimates of the disease burden from childhood pneumonia are available for most developed countries, but they are based mainly on models. Measured country-specific pneumonia burden data are limited to a few nations and differ in case definitions and case ascertainment methods. This review describes pneumonia disease burden in developed countries. We reviewed studies describing childhood pneumonia incidence in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Available estimates suggest that each year in developed countries there are up to 2.6 million cases of pneumonia, including 1.5 million hospitalized cases and around 3000 pneumonia deaths (compared with approximately 640 annual deaths from meningitis) in children <5 years of age. Data to inform policy decisions would be improved by information on burden and etiology of severe pneumonia, population-based incidence of ambulatory visits and hospitalizations and prevalence of complications and sequelae.

The cost and disease burden of pneumonia in general practice in Australia

It is important to have an understanding of the cost and disease burden of pneumonia in the community to help evaluate future prevention efforts. We examined general practitioner (GP) visits (and estimated the related costs) where pneumonia was managed from data collected in a continuous national survey, data period April 2006-March 2009. The majority of visits were standard length surgery consultations, with medication prescribed for 63%, imaging requested for 29%, and pathology for 10% of pneumonia problems managed. We estimated an average cost per GP visit of A$57.05 after adjusting for the number of problems managed. An annual average of 343,000 GP visits for pneumonia was estimated in Australia at cost of ∼A$20 million per year.

Risk factors for community‐acquired pneumonia in pre‐school‐aged children

To identify risk factors for children developing and being hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia. Children <5 years old residing in urban Auckland, New Zealand were enrolled from 2002 to 2004. To assess the risk of developing pneumonia, children hospitalised with pneumonia (n= 289) plus children with pneumonia discharged from the Emergency Department (n= 139) were compared with a random community sample of children without pneumonia (n= 351). To assess risk of hospitalisation, children hospitalised with pneumonia were compared with the children discharged from the Emergency Department. Adjusted odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the risk of pneumonia and hospitalisation with pneumonia. After adjustment for season, age and ethnicity there was an increased risk of pneumonia associated with lower weight for height (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10-1.51), spending less time outside (1.96, 1.11-3.47), previous chest infections (2.31, 1.55-3.43) and mould in the child's bedroom (1.93, 1.24-3.02). There was an increased risk of pneumonia hospitalisation associated with maternal history of pneumonia (4.03, 1.25-16.18), living in a more crowded household (2.87, 1.33-6.41) and one with cigarette smokers (1.99, 1.05-3.81), and mould in the child's bedroom (2.39, 1.25-4.72). Lower quality living environments increase the risk of pneumonia and hospitalisation with pneumonia in New Zealand. Poorer nutritional status may also increase the risk of pneumonia. Improving housing quality, decreased cigarette smoke exposure and early childhood nutrition may reduce pneumonia disease burden in New Zealand.

Estimating pneumonia deaths of post-neonatal children in countries of low or no death certification in 2008.

BackgroundPneumonia is the leading cause of child deaths globally. The aims of this study were to: a) estimate the number and global distribution of pneumonia deaths for children 1–59 months for 2008 for countries with low (<85%) or no coverage of death certification using single-cause regression models and b) compare these country estimates with recently published ones based on multi-cause regression models.Methods and FindingsFor 35 low child-mortality countries with <85% coverage of death certification, a regression model based on vital registration data of low child-mortality and >85% coverage of death certification countries was used. For 87 high child-mortality countries pneumonia death estimates were obtained by applying a regression model developed from published and unpublished verbal autopsy data from high child-mortality settings. The total number of 1–59 months pneumonia deaths for the year 2008 for these 122 countries was estimated to be 1.18 M (95% CI 0.77 M–1.80 M), which represented 23.27% (95% CI 17.15%–32.75%) of all 1–59 month child deaths. The country level estimation correlation coefficient between these two methods was 0.40.InterpretationAlthough the overall number of post-neonatal pneumonia deaths was similar irrespective to the method of estimation used, the country estimate correlation coefficient was low, and therefore country-specific estimates should be interpreted with caution. Pneumonia remains the leading cause of child deaths and is greatest in regions of poverty and high child-mortality. Despite the concerns about gender inequity linked with childhood mortality we could not estimate sex-specific pneumonia mortality rates due to the inadequate data. Life-saving interventions effective in preventing and treating pneumonia mortality exist but few children in high pneumonia disease burden regions are able to access them. To achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 target to reduce child deaths by two-thirds in year 2015 will require the scale-up of access to these effective pneumonia interventions.

Clinical epidemiology comparison of H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonia during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt

Worldwide, the infectivity and disease burden of the H1N1 pandemic were overestimated because of limited clinical experience concerning patient presentation and outcome of those infected with the novel H1N1 virus. This study aimed to compare the epidemiologic clinical data among H1N1 RT-PCR-positive and RT-PCR-negative pneumonic patients during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt. A record-based, case-control study was conducted for 43 adult patients admitted to the chest department isolation unit with community-acquired pneumonia during the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic after reviewing of 198 suspected and confirmed H1N1 hospitalized cases. Of these patients, 20 cases were confirmed to be H1N1-positive using an RT-PCR detection technique. The remaining 23 patients were RT-PCR-negative. Demographic, clinical, laboratory and radiological data were collected and analyzed using spss version 11. A review of 198 hospital case records for revealed one main peak of H1N1 influenza during the last week of December 2009. Pneumonic patients who were H1N1-positive were more likely to present with sore throat (P = 0·005), dyspnea (P = 0·002), and gastrointestinal (GIT) complaints (vomiting and diarrhea P = 0·02) when compared to the H1N1-negative group. Also, complications were significantly more frequent (P = 0·01) in the H1N1-confirmed group than in the non-confirmed group. However, no significant differences were found between the groups regarding length of hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU), and admission or mortality. Sore throat, dyspnea, and presence of GIT complaints increase the suspicion of H1N1 positivity in pneumonia acquired during an H1N1 pandemic. However, H1N1 did not worsen the disease burden of pneumonia.