Promoting the use of social networks in pneumonia

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is a serious health concern, but it does not attract the attention it warrants. Perhaps this is due to a lack of understanding of the real extent of this infectious disease in the general population.

Methods: A literature review was performed to assess the role of social networks as a means to raise awareness over pneumonia worldwide and increase its visibility.

Results: In 2017, approximately 800,000 children under 5 years and approximately one million older people died of pneumonia. The importance of this pathology remains underestimated, despite the publication of many articles, comments, and editorials dedicated to rectifying the imbalance and to reduce its impact and associated mortality. Current misperceptions about pneumonia are alarming. Education and awareness are essential in the fight against this major public health threat; in this endeavor, social networks can be used to distribute science-based information about the disease and thus raise awareness among the general public about the dangers it poses. Approximately 3.8 billion people were using social media at the beginning of 2020, representing more than half of the world's population.

Conclusion: Social networks offer a valuable tool for disseminating scientific information about pneumonia, increasing its visibility, and in general raising awareness about this preventable disease.

Keywords: Awareness; Education; Pneumolight; Pneumonia; Social networks.

Fig. 1

Numbers of users globally according to social network

Fig. 2

Pneumonia is the leading infectious cause of death in the world (source Global Burden of Disease, 2017)

Fig. 3

Pneumonia is the fifth leading cause of death among adults over 70 (source Global Burden of Disease, 2017)

Fig. 4

Global Pneumolight Initiative