INTRODUCTION
Acute respiratory infections namely pneumonia cause up to 5 million deaths
annually among children less than 5 years old in developing nations. Of the estimated
total of 12.9 million deaths globally in 1990 in children under 5 years of age, over 3.6
million were attributed to acute respiratory infections mostly due to pneumonia. This
represents 28% of all deaths in young children and places pneumonia as the largest
single cause of childhood mortality. In Malaysia the prevalence of ARI in children
below the age of five years is estimated to be 28% - 39.3% 1,2
Low birth weight, malnutrition, nasopharyngeal colonization, poor environmental
factors and tobacco smoke are risk factors for developing pneumonia. Two local studies
conducted in hospitalized children with acute lower respiratory tract infections
identified the following factors as risks for developing pneumonia 3,4
.
1.low weight for age
2.lack of breast feeding
3.failure to complete immunization
4.presence of coughing sibling (s) at home
5.overcrowding in bedroom