Pneumonia

·         In Jan 2008 according to the latest 'State of the World's Children Report' by United Nations Children fund (Unicef) over 1,090 Indian children under five years of age die every day battling pneumonia, a less talked about but fatal disease that is common across India

·         Nineteen percent of the total under-five mortality in India is due to pneumonia,

·         The illness claims the lives of 399,000 children in India every year.

·         Pneumonia is a silent killer. It kills more children than malaria, AIDS, measles and injuries together do

·         Every year 2.1 million children in India do not survive to celebrate their fifth birthday.

·         Of all the children who die,

o        19 percent die due to pneumonia,

o        17 percent due to diarrhoea,

o        eight percent due to malaria,

o        four percent due to measles and

o        three percent each due to AIDS and injuries.

·         Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lungs. It can result from a variety of causes, including infection due to bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. It can also be caused by chemical or physical injury to the lungs.

• The disease affects the lungs' capacity to absorb oxygen from air. Symptoms include cough, chest pain, fever and difficulty in breathing.