It is now evident that pneumonia is emerging as a killer disease that is claiming more lives than Malaria in Kenya slums.
According to the Economic Survey of 2016, pneumonia has claimed the lives of more Kenyans in the past one year, a record that has been cited as being higher that all malaria-related deaths in the country.
The report indicates that acute respiratory infection claimed a total of 22,473 lives of Kenyans in the last one year, steadily rising up from 21,640 deaths in 2013. The major fatalities that were recorded were among children under the ages of five, especially those living in slum areas and low-class regions. Other than the children, adults over sixty years were also among those most affected a factor that has been in their weakened body immune systems.
The survey revealed that people who smoke indoors, use kerosene as cooking and lighting fuel, charcoal and wood fuel are the most affected. Counties that were highlighted as being vulnerable to the ailment are Nairobi, Kisii, and Nyanza. This is according to Jack Kioko, the director of medical services in Kenya.
To curb more deaths, people from slums and low-income families have been urged to seek vaccination against the ailment that is now considered as a killer disease.