SAN JOSE, February 26 (EFE) – A total of 9,341 people have been infected with pneumonia in Nicaragua so far this year, with an average of 166.8 cases per day, according to a report released by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health in Managua on Monday. healthy.
The health department said that over the past seven days, 1,440 cases of pneumonia were registered, a 7% increase in the number of people affected compared to the previous week.
Health authorities reported 4,207 cases of pneumonia in the first four weeks of 2024 and 5,134 cases in the following four weeks, excluding Monday of this week, for a total of 9,341 cases of pneumonia reported in 56 days, but no deaths were specified, according to the Ministry of Health. Number of people.
In 2022, the most common cause of hospitalization was pneumonia (27,861 cases), followed by diarrhea and transmissible gastroenteritis (15,573 cases), gallbladder, bile duct and pancreatic diseases (14,804 cases) and fever suspected of dengue (12,162 cases). National Health Map, not yet updated with 2023 data.
Nicaraguan authorities have warned that low temperatures at the start of the year could lead to the spread of disease and advised people to adequately protect themselves from the cold and avoid respiratory illnesses such as influenza, laryngitis, and tonsillitis. and SARS-Cov-2 infection.
In addition, they recommend that people wear warm clothes, take vitamin C, not self-medicate, and drink plenty of fluids, among other measures.
Pneumonia is one of the top ten causes of death in Central American countries, followed by acute myocardial infarction, cancer or malignancy, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, stroke, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, traffic accidents, pneumonia and chronic ischemic heart disease.
(c) EFE Agency