El Salvador issues alert over pneumonia cases

Public health authorities reported Thursday that 400 people will die from pneumonia in El Salvador in 2023, while raising concerns about an increase in respiratory diseases.

The Ministry of Health (Minsal), in its report on care provided during the August holidays, cited an increase in respiratory illnesses in 2023, noting that 2,551 elderly people suffered from pneumonia or other illnesses.

Despite the alarm, the data showed that this year’s cumulative hospital death rate through the third week of July was lower than last year, with 73% of deaths among adults over the age of 60.

Of the 7,559 patients hospitalized with pneumonia, 52 percent were men, 56 percent were children under the age of five, and 25 percent were adults over the age of 60, the report said.

On the other hand, Minsal reported on its social networks that there were still no recorded deaths from Covid-19 in August, an achievement attributed to the actions taken by the El Salvador government to prevent the virus.

“On August 9, we did not register any deaths from COVID-19. We have won the fight against this disease”, Minsar emphasized on social networks in the early hours of Thursday this week, despite calls for people to resume wearing masks practice is still continuing.