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Know The Enemy

Why is pneumonia so dangerous?

If you catch it, pneumonia can be serious and life threatening:

  • Over 221,000 adult hospital admissions are due to pneumonia; and over 1 in 5 occur in people under 65.† 4
  • If you have a heart condition and have pneumonia, you are four-times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke9
  • It is one of the most common causes of death due to infection in men and women5

†England in 2014/15

View References
References
  1. National Institute for Heath and Care Excellence (NICE). NICE clinical guideline 191 – Pneumonia. Issued: December 2014. Available at:http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg191 [Last accessed: November 2016].
  2. NHS Choices. Pneumonia. Available at http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Pneumonia/Pages/Introduction.aspx. Last accessed July 2017.
  3. British Medical Journal (BMJ). Patient information from the BMJ Group – Pneumonia. Available at: http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/pdf/patient-summaries/532655.pdf [Last accessed: November 2016]
  4. Hospital episodes statistics data accessed April 2016. Ages ≥16, ICD-10 codes J12-J18, England only data.
  5. Office of National Statistics: Leading cause of death, England and Wales. 2013.
  6. Davydow DS, Hough CL, Levine DA, Langa KM, Iwashyna TJ. Functional Disability, Cognitive Impairment, and Depression Following Hospitalization for Pneumonia. Am J Med 2013;126(7):615-624 e5
  7. NHS Choices. Pneumococcal infections. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pneumococcal-infections/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  8. Public Health England. The Green Book [2013]. Chapter 25: Pneumococcal. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pneumococcal-the-green-book-chapter-25. [Last accessed: November 2016]
  9. Corrales-Medina VF, Alvarez KN, Weissfeld LA et al. Association between hospitalization for pneumonia and subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2015; 313(3):264-274
  10. Office of National Statistics: Deaths: underlying cause, sex and age-group, 2013. Table 5.10: Diseases of the respiratory system, England and Wales. Ages =15, ICD-10 codes J12-J18.
  11. Miller E, et al. Herd Immunity and serotype replacement 4 years after seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination in England and Wales: an observational cohort study. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2011;11(10):760-768
  12. Shrestha S, Foxman B, Weinberger DM, et al. Identifying the interaction between influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia using incidence data. Sci Transl Med. 2013 Jun 26;5(191):191ra84.
  13. European Respiratory Society (ERS). European Lung White Book – Chapter 18. Avaliable at: http://www.erswhitebook.org/chapters/acute-lower-respiratory-infections/pneumonia/ [Last accessed: November 2016]
  14. Schranz J. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines: What do we know and what do we need? Procedia in Vaccinology 1. 2009: 189-205
  15. Hospital episodes statistics data accessed 01/04/2015. Ages =16, ICD-10 codes J12-J18, England only data.
  16. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Pneumococcal Disease: Factsheet for Health Professionals. Available at: http://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/pneumococcal_infection/Pages/factsheet-health-professionals.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  17. NHS Choices. Common cold. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Cold-common/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  18. NHS Choices. Flu. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Flu/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  19. NHS Choices. Preventing colds and flu. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/coldsandflu/Pages/Preventionandcure.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  20. NHS Choices. Flu - treatment. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Flu/Pages/Treatment.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  21. NHS Choices. Pneumococcal infections. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pneumococcal-infections/pages/introduction.aspx [Last accessed: November 2016]
  22. British Medical Journal (BMJ). Patient information from the BMJ Group- Pneumonia. Available at: http://bestpractice.bmj.com/best-practice/pdf/patient-summaries/532655.pdf [Last accessed: November 2016]
  23. NHS Choices. Treating Pneumonia. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Pneumonia/Pages/Treatment.aspx Accessed July 2017