World Pneumonia Day is observed each year on November 12 to raise awareness of pneumonia, a serious respiratory infection that can prove fatal for children, older adults, and people with weakened immunity. Globally, it remains one of the leading infectious causes of death in children under age five, though awareness, immunization, proper nutrition, and timely diagnosis sharply reduce the risk.
Causes and risk factors: Microbial infections drive most cases. Common bacterial culprits include Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) and Haemophilus influenzae, alongside viral pathogens such as influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2. Certain fungal infections can trigger pneumonia in severely immunocompromised patients, while food, liquids, vomit, or saliva entering the airway can cause aspiration pneumonia.
Additional risk factors include malnutrition, inadequate breastfeeding, smoking, secondhand smoke, air pollution, indoor smoke from cooking fuels, missed vaccinations, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic lung conditions.
Symptoms to watch: Signs vary by age, pathogen, and severity, commonly involving fever, chills, heavy sweating, cough (sometimes with phlegm), rapid breathing or shortness of breath, one-sided chest pain while breathing, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, or vomiting. In severe cases, lips, tongue, or nails may turn bluish.
Danger signs in children include fast breathing, inward pulling of the lower chest wall, inability to breastfeed or eat, and unusual lethargy. Older adults may show sudden confusion, marked weakness, drowsiness, or falls even without pronounced fever or cough.
Higher risk in children and seniors: Because young children lack fully mature immune defenses, newborns, children under five, low-birthweight babies, and malnourished infants are especially vulnerable, particularly when exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months or routine immunizations are missed. Immune strength also declines with age, heightening complications among seniors living with diabetes, heart or kidney disease, or chronic respiratory illness.
Winter risks and complications: Cold weather does not directly cause pneumonia, but closed windows indoors help respiratory viruses such as influenza and RSV spread, while wood or coal smoke, dust, and polluted air irritate airways. Without timely care, pneumonia can trigger severe respiratory failure, systemic organ distress, pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs), empyema (pus in the pleural lining), lung abscesses, and multi-organ dysfunction involving the kidneys and heart.
Unlike a common cold—marked mainly by a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and mild cough that ease within days—pneumonia causes high fever, rapid breathing, breathlessness, chest pain, extreme fatigue, and falling oxygen levels. Because a cold can also progress into pneumonia, persistent shortness of breath or fast breathing warrants prompt medical evaluation.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report