Pakistan: Pneumonia Outbreak Kills 200 Children As Severe Cold Grips Punjab Province

Since the beginning of the year, Punjab province has recorded a total of 10,520 pneumonia cases, and 220 child deaths.

Since the beginning of the year, Punjab province has recorded a total of 10,520 pneumonia cases, and 220 child deaths.

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New Delhi: More than 200 children in Pakistan's Punjab province have succumbed to pneumonia as a result of severe cold weather conditions over the past three weeks, health ministry said, as reported by news agency PTI.

The caretaker government in Punjab stated that a significant number of these children had not been vaccinated against pneumonia, were malnourished, and had weakened immunity due to a lack of breastfeeding.

Meanwhile, in view of the extreme weather, the government has implemented a ban on morning assemblies in schools across the province until January 31 to check the spread of of pneumonia across the region.

Since the beginning of the year, the province has recorded a total of 10,520 pneumonia cases, with all 220 reported deaths in children under the age of five. The provincial capital, Lahore, witnessed 47 of these fatalities, the health ministry said. 

Mukhtar Ahmed, the director of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in Punjab, said that infants in Pakistan typically receive their first anti-pneumonia vaccine, PCV, around six weeks after birth. “From birth till the age of two, the EPI ensures that a baby receives 12 vaccines against different diseases," he said. "Of these, three are to protect children from pneumonia," PTI quoted Ahmed as saying.

To curb the spread of pneumonia, the government has advised children to wear face masks, practice hand hygiene, and use warm clothing. Flagging concern over the rising pneumonia cases among children, the government urged senior doctors to advice preventive measures.

Drawing parallels with COVID-19, the government asserted that the rapid increase in viral pneumonia cases called for urgent steps to mitigate the impact on children.

Notably, last year, Punjab province had recorded 990 child deaths due to pneumonia. The government's call for preventive measures and the awareness campaign aim to address the current crisis and reduce the vulnerability of children to pneumonia in the province, the ministry further said.