World observes pneumonia day

ISLAMABAD, Nov 12 (APP):This year the theme for World Pneumonia Day is “healthy lungs for all” to raise awareness, promote prevention and treatment and produce action to combat the disease.

Talking to a private news channel, Dr. Fatima Mir said people knew that pneumonia was a respiratory disease – the biggest killer of children under five across the world. She said health experts advised people to wear masks and get vaccinated as the season is changing and one can’t cross the room without hearing a cough or a sneeze – it’s not surprising then that the focus on respiratory diseases is at an all-time high.

She said pneumonia spreads through the air and acts like sneezing and coughing in the open air, adding the malnourished or undernourished kids were more susceptible to infections .
Living in a crowded home or area also increases the risk of contracting the deadly respiratory disease, she further stated.

“Parental smoking also makes a child more prone to infections from the environment as tobacco smoke diminishes the lung’s capacity to fight against the infection,” she emphasized.

The contagious diseases could be prevented by properly washing hands with soap multiple times a day, especially before eating and by substantial reduction in household air pollution, she mentioned.
She further advised parents should get their children influenza virus shot once in a year to the minors aged from 9 months to five years as it could protect them from seasonal diseases.

If a child was not vaccinated ever before he would be given two influenza shots and the dosage would be decreased during next shots, most of the kids under five years of age are more prone to viral infections.

She further advised people should avoid taking antibiotics during early stage of viral disease as it usually get 10 days to be diminished itself, the body immune system also recovers within 10 days, she added.