A health expert has dismissed the myths and misconception that people can develop pneumonia because of being exposed to cold.
This is contrary to the common belief that someone can get pneumonia by exposing themselves to cold especially those in the boda boda sector.
Pneumonia, a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs, is typically caused by infectious agents which include viruses.
“We have several myths around that pneumonia is caused by cold, which is not the case, it is caused by infectious agents which include viruses, bacteria and fungi,” Mariana Mutinda from the Kenya Pediatric Association said.
“If a child is exposed to cold it is not sufficient to be a cause for pneumonia,” Mutinda added.
According to the American Lung Association, the most common type of bacterial pneumonia is called pneumococcal pneumonia.
On the other hand, viruses that infect the upper respiratory tract may also cause pneumonia.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and the influenza virus are the most common cause of viral pneumonia in adults.
The head of Division of Newborn and Maternal Health at the Ministry of Health Janette Karimi said even as the country continues to witness flooding due to ongoing rains, the flooding itself does not cause pneumonia.
However, when people get displaced due to the floods, they might end up in congested areas without proper ventilation, which makes it easier to transmit the infection.
She noted that with the flooding what people need to be careful about is sanitation and hygiene practices.
“With flooding sometimes people might be displaced and then you find many people concentrating in one area so it is that lack of good ventilation,” Karimi said.
“If you are concentrated in a packed area you will transmit the pneumonia or respiratory diseases more easily so the flooding itself does not cause the pneumonia but the condition that come with it around wash nutrition and the ventilation,” she clarified.
The World Health Organisation on the other hand says that most healthy children can fight the infection with their natural defences.
However, children whose immune systems are compromised are at higher risk of developing pneumonia.
A child's immune system may be weakened by malnutrition or undernourishment, especially in infants who are not exclusively breastfed.
Pre-existing illnesses, such as symptomatic HIV infections and measles, also increase a child's risk of contracting pneumonia.