2023 ends with more than 1.5 million respiratory illnesses and 730 deaths from pneumonia

Three months after the start of 2024, the Ministry of Health (Minsal) remained silent on the situation of the epidemic in the country, and the entity revealed only yesterday that 2023 ended with more than 1,500,000 patients with respiratory infections and more than 730 deaths from pneumonia. Looking at hard data, the Epidemiological Bulletin for Week 52 reported that a total of 1,574,872 Salvadorans had health complications due to respiratory infections, and 21,637 cases of such diseases were diagnosed in the last week of December alone (24th to 30th). Determined.. The report details that the incidence rate in the 52nd week of 2023 was 36,709 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, with children under one to nine years old being the most vulnerable to respiratory infections.

pneumonia

Regarding pneumonia, the Ministry of Health said that last year there were 16,814 hospitalizations due to the disease, an increase of 79%, while by the end of 2022 the number was 9,373, or an increase of 7,441 cases. The report shows that among patients hospitalized due to pneumonia, 53% are male, with 5-year-old infants accounting for the most, accounting for 60%, followed by elderly people over 60 years old, accounting for 21%. Looking at the incidence rates by age group, children under one year old have the highest incidence rate at 7,296 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by children aged 1 to 4 years old at 2,220 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Pneumonia is an infection of one or both lungs that causes the small lung sacs to fill with fluid or pus. This infection can be mild or severe and is usually more complicated in patients over 60 years of age or in young children.

death toll

In terms of deaths, the agency detailed that as of the end of last year, 731 people had died from the disease, with 70% of the deaths among adults over 60 years old. Epidemic Corridor notes that pneumonia cases are closed in safe zones, although according to doctors in private areas there has been a rebound in cases since the last week of December. The latest epidemiological bulletin in 2023 shows that 206 confirmed cases of respiratory syncytial virus, 73 cases of influenza B, 58 cases of parainfluenza, 47 cases of adenovirus, 46 cases of influenza A H3N2, and 37 cases of influenza A H1N1.