Communicable Diseases Account for 46% of Deaths in Kids

Communicable diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis accounted for over 46 per cent of preventable deaths in children aged 5-14 years in 2016, reveals a study.

In India, around 46 percent of preventable deaths in children aged 5-14 years in 2016 befall due to communicable diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis, finds a new study.

In 2016, India had about 74,000 preventable or treatable deaths from communicable diseases, representing nearly half of all the annual deaths and over a third of all deaths in the four developing countries -- India, China, Brazil and Mexico -- in children aged 5-14 years.

Pneumonia - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, Complications
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be caused by a bacteria or a virus. It causes inflammation of the alveoli or the air sacs of the lungs.

‘A substantial decline in deaths among children of ages 5-14 is possible with cost-effective, feasible and affordable interventions.’

In India, death rates from these communicable diseases as well as vaccine-preventable diseases were nearly 20 times higher than in China, and 10 times higher than in Brazil and Mexico, showed the findings published in The Lancet journal.

"Most of these deaths are avoidable and for those caused by medical conditions, many of them are treatable," said Prabhat Jha, Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

"Death in children aged 5-14 should be rare around the world. With cost-effective, feasible and affordable interventions, substantial declines in deaths in this age group are possible," Jha said.

Respiratory Diseases - Diseases of the Human Respiratory System
Respiratory diseases affect any part of the respiratory system. Some of the lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can lead to respiratory failure.

The study examined data on around 2.5 lakh deaths in children aged 5-14 years from 2005 to 2016 in India, China, Brazil and Mexico. These countries are home to about 40 per cent of the world's children aged 5-14 years and experience more than two lakh deaths annually at these ages.

Marked declines in the communicable disease mortality among girls narrowed the gap with boys in India and China.

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) in Children
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of lower respiratory tract infections. RSV infection is usually mild and self-limiting but symptoms may be severe in young children, the elderly and those with a weak immunity.

However, mortality rates for non-communicable diseases and injury were found to be still higher in India than in China, Mexico, and Brazil.

In contrast with Mexico and Brazil, a majority of road fatalities in both India and China were among pedestrians.

Legionnaires’ disease - Symptoms - Causes - Risk Factors - Diagnosis - Treatment
Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by a type of bacteria. The infection is likely to spread when people inhale tiny water droplets containing the bacteria.

Despite regional differences, the common leading causes of death in all four countries include, road accidents, drowning, cancers and neurological diseases, researchers said.

Source-IANS