The epidemiology of respiratory disease in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT

This review of the burden of respiratory diseases in children and adult Zimbabweans is based on limited available literature and highlights a need for more descriptive epidemio- logical studies. In children; the commonest reported causes of respiratory mortality were acute pyogenic pneumonia; Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; and tuberculosis; with different patterns of diseases evident between HIV-positive and HIV-negative children. Asthma and other atopic conditions are common but under-reported due to a predomi- nance of publication on HIV-related subjects. In adults; exposure to indoor air pollution due to burning of biomass fuels is probably associated with acute respiratory infections; asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; lung cancer; and nasopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers in Zimbabwe as in other regions. These conditions also have other common risk factors including malnutrition and tobacco smoking but the prevalence rates of these conditions and their associations with risk factors are not known. In adults with chronic cough; tuberculosis is the most common diagnosis among HIV infected adults but lower respiratory tract infections and asthma were more common among HIV- negative patients. Factors associated with tobacco smoking in Zimbabwe are discussed