The Lancet
Nov 27, 2010  Volume 376  Number 9755  Pages 1799 – 1872
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

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Childhood pneumonia: a neglected, climate-sensitive disease?
Stuart Paynter, Robert S Ware, Philip Weinstein, Gail Williams, Peter D Sly

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Reports from WHO and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) list undernutrition, diarrhoea, and vector-borne disease as the most important health effects of climate change.1,2 Although these disorders are of major importance, childhood pneumonia, which is responsible for 17% of childhood deaths worldwide,3 is rarely mentioned in the context of climate change. Respiratory infections follow seasonal patterns. In temperate settings, respiratory illness is most common in winter months.4 However, the epidemiology is quite different in tropical settings, where most childhood deaths due to pneumonia occur, with the incidence of lower respiratory-tract infection being generally increased during the rainy season.