‘Pneumonia kills 2.5m people each year’

Sargodha DHQ Pulmonology dept head says Covid makes pneumonia more dangerous

SARGODHA:

Pneumonia claims 2.5 million human lives every year and 0.7 million of those are children under five years of age.

This was stated by Sargodha DHQ Hospital Head of Pulmonology Department Dr Sikandar Hayat Warraich during a ceremony on World Pneumonia Day 2020.

He said that the theme of World Pneumonia Day 2020 was ‘Every breath counts’. He added that coronavirus had become an epidemic that makes pneumonia more dangerous, so death rates from pneumonia may increase this year.

Dr Warraich further said that pneumonia was more common in people with low immunity while lack of food, air pollution and moving to crowded places were the major causes of the disease.

He explained that major symptoms of pneumonia include cough, fever, chest pain and shortness of breath. He recommended that people could save themselves from catching pneumonia and coronavirus only through precautionary measures.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 16^th, 2020.