World Pneumonia Day is an endeavor by public health professionals to raise awareness about a disease that affects adults and children alike the world over. It is observed on Nov. 12 to educate people on the disease, which is often confused with the common cold.

Pneumonia is a respiratory illness that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs, filling them with pus or phlegm and causing breathlessness to the affected individual.

The disease has varying levels in terms of severity, from mild to life-threatening, but needs early detection and vaccination to evade fatal consequences.

Pneumonia is one of the most common lung diseases and can cause lifelong suffering, leaving the person vulnerable to bacterial, fungal, and viral infection in its wake. The disease was the leading cause of child mortality worldwide in 2019, killing 740,180 children under the age of 5, as per a report by the World Health Organisation.

The observance of the day this year holds a special meaning as the Mérieux Foundation, which was the first to observe the day, has collected funds to be distributed among 11 civil society organizations to further strengthen their fight against pneumonia.

The funds were collected in collaboration with Every Breath Counts, which is "a public-private partnership supporting low- and middle-income countries to reduce pneumonia deaths, including from COVID-19."

Here are some hard-hitting quotes about pneumonia from people who suffered the disease in real-time (courtesy)

  • "You ever seen what long-term decompression and cold exposure does? Breaks all the capillaries in your eyes and skin. Tissue damage to the lungs can cause massive pneumonia followed by emphysema-like scarring. I mean, if you don't just die." - James S.A. Corey
  • "I had gotten up to two, maybe three, packs (of cigarettes) a day. And my lungs were bothering me and I'd had pneumonia two or three times. And I was also smoking pot, and I decided, well, one of them's got to go. And so I took a pack of Chesterfields and took all the Chesterfields out, rolled up 20 big fat ones and put it in there, and I haven't smoked a cigarette since then." - Willie Nelson
  • "Just as it was necessary to reinflate my lungs to overcome pneumonia, I needed the breath of God to help me overcome the depression of my spirit." - Don Piper
  • "Emergency rooms are closed, many hospital wards are as well leaving people who are sick with heart disease, trauma, pregnancy complications, pneumonia, malaria and all the everyday health emergencies with nowhere to go." - Richard E. Besser
  • "I nearly died of double bronchial pneumonia at the age of five." - Roger Moore
  • I had asthma when I was a kid, asthma so bad that it would turn into pneumonia and I almost died several times. Nobody knew why back then, but now it's obvious." - Don McLean
Pneumonia in Older Adults
Symptoms of pneumonia in older adults truthseeker08/Pixabay