Be careful, pneumonia is not a serious cold

The disease is considered one of the top ten causes of death

In Panama, pneumonia is the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cardiovascular problems.

Eduardo Hevia, a pulmonologist at the Social Security Fund (CSS), said that pneumonia is not a severe cold, but that patients often suffer from other diseases other than colds.

The expert explained: “A cold should only affect the nose and throat, but if we have been affected by the lower respiratory tract (bronchi and lungs), then we are not facing a cold, but other diseases.”

It should be noted that this disease is considered one of the top ten causes of death. According to data from the Comptroller General of the Republic, 352 people died from this infection in 2020 (192 of them men).

According to the Ministry of Health (Minsa) report, 13,102 cases of pneumonia/bronchopneumonia were detected from January to November 2022 alone, exceeding the 11,278 cases reported in 2021.

Tomorrow is World Pneumonia Day and planned events have been suspended due to lockdowns and demonstrations in the country.

Itzel de Hewitt, country director of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), reported that events originally scheduled for November 13-17 included press conferences and vaccinations; due to the lockdown and demonstrations, these events were rescheduled for November 27th to December 2nd.

He said that all health centers will be equipped with vaccines by then; and on the 1st and 2nd of next month, vaccines will be placed in shopping malls. He stressed that 50,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to be administered.

Pneumococcal vaccination has been available in Panama since 2008. de Hewitt added that so far in 2023, more than 100,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered.

Several factors make patients susceptible to pneumonia, including: age (risk increases for people over 65 and children under 5), alcohol consumption, and smoking; and some medical conditions that increase risk, such as diabetes, asthma, cancer, and chronic kidney disease question.