Respiratory diseases in Africa: Causes and effects

Acute lower respiratory tract infection (RTI) is a disease which interacts with malaria and AIDS and it is an important but less recognized killer. Children whose immune systems have been suppressed by HIV are highly susceptible to infection with common pathogens. There is also evidence that chronic exposure of the immature immune system to malaria may increase susceptibility to infection by pathogens such as pneumococci. In less-developed countries estimation of the burden of acute lower RTI in children is fraught with difficulty. The precise epidemiology and etiology of childhood acute lower RTIs are not known in these countries and there is a dearth of information on the relative importance of bacterial and viral agents of pneumonia. Accordingly the formulation of pathogen-specific intervention strategies has been hampered by these diagnostic difficulties. Although improving diagnostic methods may aid the process of estimating the true disease burden determination of the potential impact of vaccines in averting millions of preventable deaths in less-developed countries is a priority.