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About the Authors:
Xuhua Guan
Affiliation: Hubei Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hubei, People's Republic of China
Benjamin J. Silk
Affiliations Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Wenkai Li
Affiliation: Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Aaron T. Fleischauer
Affiliation: Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Xuesen Xing
Affiliation: Hubei Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hubei, People's Republic of China
Xiaoqing Jiang
Affiliation: Hubei Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hubei, People's Republic of China
Hongjie Yu
Affiliation: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People's Republic of China
Sonja J. Olsen
Affiliation: Division of Emerging Infections and Surveillance Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Adam L. Cohen
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Respiratory Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Introduction
Despite the availability of safe and effective antibiotics and vaccines for treatment and prevention, pneumonia is a leading cause of death worldwide and the leading infectious disease killer [1], [2]. Pneumonia is the single leading cause of death globally among children under 5 years of age accounting for approximately 2 million deaths annually [2], [3]. Children in developing countries have an estimated 0.29 episodes of pneumonia per person-year, compared with 0.05 episodes per person-year in developed countries [3].
Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death in adults and children in China [4]. In urban areas, pneumonia is the fourth leading cause of death, and in rural areas pneumonia is the leading cause of death [5], [6]. A recent article in the Chinese literature estimated that each year in China there are 2.5 million patients with pneumonia and that 125,000 (5%) of these patients die of pneumonia-related illness [5]. A 2008 global review by Rudan and colleagues estimated that there were 21.1 million new cases of clinical pneumonia annually in China in children under...