Pneumonia is a disease of the lungs, usually a serious infection from a virus or bacteria. Healthy adults can usually recover well with outpatient antibiotics, but the elderly and youngest are most vulnerable to serious complications. For example, pneumonia is the #1 cause of death in the elderly from flu, and also is the worldwide #1 killer of children under 5 years.

But it’s the children that public health doctors are mostly worried about, mostly because many children in poorer countries are not getting the vaccines against h. influenza and pneumococcus, which are the most common causes of pneumonia in children. These vaccines can dramatically decrease the infection rate and complications of these deadly bacteria. Measles and pertussis also can cause pneumonias; and there is an unfortunate and unnecessary increase in these diseases as more anti-vaccine parents refuse to vaccinate their children. You can read more about the disease and the vaccines at their special website set up for the Novermber 2nd day.

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