title: [Pneumonia in children in Latin America: morbidity, predisposing causes, mortality and costs].
abstract: The paper refers to pneumonia in children under five years of age in Latin America, and covers the following toplos: morbidity, predisposing and risk factors, mortality and costs. It emphasizes the magnitude, tendency and advances in the control of the problem. High pneumonia morbidity and mortality rates are observed, with slow tendency to decrease in the majority of the countries of the Region, with some exceptions. The paper points out the importance of the National Programs of Control of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), specifically of pneumonia, following the guide lines of the PAHO/WHO. Special mention is made of the diagnosis, ambulatory standardized treatment and cost-effectiveness under the strategy of the Primary Health Care. The preventive measures are important, including the health education of parents and the training of the community health workers. The principal goal is to obtain a decrease of one third in the mortality of pneumonia in children, within the present.
authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Pediatría, Facultad de Medicina de la UCV, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Urdaneta
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D012307:Risk Factors
vernacular_title: Neumonía en los niños de América Latina: morbilidad, causas predisponentes, mortalidad y costos.