SMOKERS and people with chronic respiratory illness, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases have a greater risk of catching pneumonia.
Adults with diabetes have two to six times more at risk than healthy adults of catching the serious lung infection; those with cardiovascular diseases are three to 10 times more at risk; and those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are five to 17 times more at risk, said Dr. Rontgene Solante, chairman of Adult Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Section in San Lazaro Hospital, at a recent forum marking the World Pneumonia Awareness Day.
“Cigarette smoking is the strongest independent risk factor for pneumonia in immune-compromised adults aged 18 to 64,” he pointed out.
Dr. Solante said getting a vaccination is important for people with pneumonia and those with the high-risk medical conditions mentioned. But it isn’t cheap. It costs at least P2,000 to P3,000 per vaccine and one must get two pneumonia vaccinations, and it isn’t covered by most health maintenance organizations.
INFECTION
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be caused by bacteria, virus, fungi, or parasitea. It is a common form of pneumococcal disease, which refers to a group of illnesses caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumonia. Symptoms include cough, fever, shaking, chills, and difficulty in breathing.
People at both ends of age spectrum are most at risk. According to the 2009 Center for Disease and Control Prevention report, the highest incidences of pneumonia occur on people ages five and below and 55 and above.
“People get [pneumonia] by inhalation of microbes via direct person to person contact,” said Dr. Katrina Florcruz of The Medical City and a member of the Philippine Pediatric Society.
Air pollution and overcrowding are also factors.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.6 million people die annually because of pneumonia. While it isn’t in the top 10 death-causing diseases in the world, according to WHO data in 2012, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and COPD, are included in the top 10 list.
According to the Philippine Health Statistics data in 2013, in public hospitals, pneumonia is the fourth leading cause of death among aged Filipinos. It is the top cause of mortality among children ages one to 14. — Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman