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The authors of the nine studies formed the Pneumonia Case Management Trials Group. They met as a team to review the data collected from each individual study and to complete an analysis. They learned that under-nutrition was prevalent in all of the settings in which the studies were conducted. In addition, health service availability, other than that of the community workers, was variable, but low in many settings. The researchers also found that the pneumonia mortality rate was reduced by 42 percent in the neonates, 36 percent in infants and 36 percent in the child grouping.

Dr. Black said, "The diversity of pneumonia interventions and the developing countries in which these trials took place, along with the consistency of the results, lends credibility to the robustness of the findings and their application to many developing countries. Interventions of this design may have advantages in populations where recognition of illness in neonates and preschool children and the ability or willingness to seek care for respiratory illness may be limited."

The researchers state in their report, "Interventions to improve child survival in developing countries should be built around management of pneumonia and other life-threatening diseases, as well as immunizations and other effective preventive approaches."

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Contact: Kenna Brigham
paffairs@jhsph.edu
410-955-6878
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
22-Aug-2003