Newswise — “Pneumonia is the top infection-linked killer of children globally,” says Roomi Nusrat, MD, a member of the American Thoracic Society’s Pneumonia Working Group and Allergy, Immunology and Inflammation Assembly. “It is responsible for more than 50,000 deaths each year in the U.S.”

In anticipation of World Pneumonia Day on Nov. 12, Dr. Nusrat, a professor of clinical medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Charles Dela Cruz, MD, PhD, an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine, share their views on where we should focus our efforts.

Key Messages:• Pneumonia is more common in the very young and in elderly patients. Both the risk of developing pneumonia as well as its complications increases with age. Additional important risk factors are heart disease, diabetes, and chronic obstructive lung disease.• Pneumonia killed nearly one million children under the age of five around the world in 2015.• 36.5 percent of adults over 65 are not vaccinated against a virulent form of bacterial pneumonia known as pneumococcal pneumonia, for which an effective vaccine is available; this gap in vaccination for bacterial pneumonia is higher than for adults over 65 not vaccinated against the influenza virus.• The frequency of antibiotic resistant bacteria causing pneumonia is growing, a consequence of overuse in and outside the hospital.

“Pneumonia does not have effective advocacy,” said Dr. Dela Cruz. “More effort is needed to drive funding necessary to reduce harm in those most vulnerable - children, the elderly, and patients with a compromised immune system.”

"Pneumonia is costly, resulting in a high number of deaths in both adults and children worldwide,” said ATS President David Gozal, MD, MBA. “World Pneumonia Day is a reminder that prevention and treatment of pneumonia should be priorities. “

To arrange an interview with our experts, contact Dacia Morris at 212-315-8620 or [email protected].

11/07/2016