Pneumonia cases registering sharp increase

Rawalpindi:Pneumonia, which is considered as the number one killer of children in Pakistan has started hitting population in this region of the country as the number of cases being reported at the allied hospitals in town is on a continuous rise since the advent of winter this year.

Data collected by ‘The News’ on Sunday has revealed that in the last three weeks, well over 2500 child patients with pneumonia have been registered with the three allied hospitals in town including Holy Family Hospital, Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Rawalpindi Teaching Hospital for treatment. The allied hospitals in town are receiving over 120 child patients with severe pneumonia per day on average.

Two of the three teaching hospitals in town, Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital that operate complete paediatrics departments have been admitting well over 100 child patients with pneumonia per day. It is alarming that the majority of pneumonia patients being presented to the allied hospitals are with severe complications.

According to Principal Rawalpindi Medical College and In-charge Allied Hospitals Professor Dr. Jahangir Sarwar Khan, over 2.5 per cent of the total child patients visiting the HFH and BBH are with the complaints of pneumonia. The incidences of both the upper and the lower respiratory tract infections are on the rise among children and the allied hospitals have been receiving a heavy influx of child patients.

Talking to ‘The News’, he said the HFH has received well over 2300 child patients with pneumonia in the last three weeks while over 200 pneumonia patients have been registered with BBH and RTH since December 1. It is important that the majority of child patients being taken to the allied hospitals with pneumonia are younger children, below two years of age.

Studies reveal that pneumonia is a condition of severe inflammation of the lung tissue that is responsible for delivering oxygen to the entire body. The infection may be caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi. Mild pneumonia occurs with symptoms like cough with expectoration, fever, general body pain and weakness. If not treated in time, it progresses to moderate pneumonia that has more severe symptoms but not life threatening. Severe pneumonia, however, is characterized by intense high grade fever with chills, difficulty in breathing on slightest exertion, laboured breathing, hemoptysis (blood in sputum), congestion of the chest, pain in the chest while breathing and cyanosis (bluish discoloration of skin due to lack of oxygenated haemoglobin). Severe pneumonia will also cause an increased respiratory rate as there is shallow and short breathing. There is an inwards drawing of the chest visible especially in thin patients (the muscles present in between the ribs are pulled inwards).

Professor Jahangir said that it is time for parents to take extra care of their children. If a child develops any of the signs and symptoms of pneumonia, he or she must be taken to the nearest healthcare facility for diagnosis. Early presentation of a pneumonia patient to a hospital helps avoide life-threatening complications, he said.