title: Childhood pneumonia - the Drakenstein Child Health Study.
abstract: Advances in immunisation, improvements in socioeconomic status and effective HIV prevention and treatment strategies have reduced the population burden of childhood pneumonia and severe disease. However, pneumonia remains the major single cause of death in children outside the neonatal period, causing approximately 1 million deaths annually, or 15% of an estimated 6.3 million deaths in children aged under 5 years. This burden is disproportionately high in low- and middle-income countries and in Africa, where almost 50% of deaths in children aged  under 5 years occur, despite African children comprising only 25% of live births globally. Pneumonia incidence and severity are highest in the first year of life, especially in the first 6 months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and Medical Research Council Unit on Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. heather.zar@uct.ac.za.
authors.forename: Heather Jessica
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zar
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Barnett
authors.forename: Landon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Myer
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Nicol
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D015994:Incidence; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology