6 UK children hospitalised with pneumonia every hour: cough, temperature and other symptoms

By Claire Schofield
Published 13th Nov 2019, 11:20 BST
Updated 13th Nov 2019, 11:22 BST
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Pneumonia is one of the most deadly diseases around and claims the life of a child every 39 seconds across the world, health experts have warned.

The disease hospitalises six children in the UK every hour and parents are being urged to be alert to the signs of the disease in response to the worrying figures.

‘Forgotten epidemic’

A global report by UNICEF highlighted that hospital admissions for pneumonia have risen by more than 50 per cent, with as many as 56,000 emergency child admissions in the past year.

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Do you know the warning signs of pneumonia?Do you know the warning signs of pneumonia?
Do you know the warning signs of pneumonia?

The report warns that the disease killed more children in 2018 than any other disease, with an estimated 800,000 losing their life to pneumonia - amounting to one every 39 seconds.

A total of 27 children in England died from the disease in 2018, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics. Pneumonia can be prevented with vaccines, although 71 million children around the world were not vaccinated last year.

UNICEF said the UK must lead the way in tackling a "forgotten global epidemic that demands an urgent international response".

Nick Roseveare, interim executive director of UNICEF UK, told The Sun, "We're lucky in the UK that we have the NHS and a childhood vaccination programme which includes pneumonia and influenza, so fewer children get these illnesses in the first place.