AS the country transitions to the "new normal" following the lifting of the state of public health emergency due to the coronavirus disease, a potential uptick in cases of pediatric pneumonia could become a new health concern, experts warned.
University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Infectious and Tropical Disease Division chief Dr. Anna Ong-Lim and Dr. Maria Rosario Capeding said that a combination of factors, including decreased vigilance in preventive measures and increased mobility of the population, may contribute to the pneumonia cases, especially among the unvaccinated population of young children below 5 years old.
PROTECTION Masking can help young children avoid pneumonia, the top killer of kids in the Philippines. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Ong-Lim noted that during the pandemic, there was a decrease in pneumonia cases as an offshoot of the public health precautions and measures placed for Covid-19.
"They were attributing the decrease to limited mobility restrictions, globally, as a way to limit transmissions," she said.
Childhood pneumonia is an infectious disease that manifests symptoms in a child's lungs and causes complications in breathing. These complications may further lead to lung abscesses, sepsis, bacteremia (bacteria in the bloodstream), respiratory failure, and death.
The infectious disease expert cited data from the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) which shows a child under 5 years old dies of pneumonia every 43 seconds, or around 2,000 children every day.
In the Philippines, 60,500 children died of pneumonia in 2022, majority of them below 5 years of age, making it the most common cause of death for children in the country.
Of the 90 known serotypes of S. pneumoniae, 32 have been identified in the country as of 2018, putting 11 million Filipino infants and children at risk.
The disease claims the lives of over 700,000 children under 5 every year worldwide, including over 200,000 newborns.
"The Philippines is one of the 15 countries contributing to pneumonia cases worldwide, which could be prevented by vaccines," Ong-Lim said.
Capeding, meanwhile, reminded the public that embracing practices learned from the pandemic such as the wearing of masks has been proven effective in preventing respiratory illnesses like Covid-19 and pneumonia.
To effectively address childhood pneumonia, Capeding said vaccination is the foremost preventive measure.
"It's never too late to protect your child against pneumonia. As early as 1.5 months after birth, infants and children should be protected from this deadly disease," she said.
"Mothers, fathers and caretakers are encouraged to visit the nearest health center and have [their] children vaccinated before it's too late," she added.
WITH AFP
