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Objectives: To compare the proportion of Beijing children who have ever had pneumonia (%Pneumonia) to those in other locations, and to estimate by how much national vaccine coverage with Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) and Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) could reduce Beijing %Pneumonia. Methods: %Pneumonia was obtained for each age group from 1 to 8 years inclusive from 5,876 responses to a cross-sectional questionnaire. Literature searches were conducted for world-wide reports of %Pneumonia. Previous vaccine trials conducted worldwide were used to estimate the pneumococcal (S. pneumoniae) and Hib (H. influenzae) burdens and %Pneumonia as well as the potential for PCV and Hib vaccines to reduce Beijing children’s %Pneumonia. Findings: The majority of pneumonia cases occurred by the age of three. The cumulative %Pneumonia for 3–8 year-old Beijing children, 26.9%, was only slightly higher than the 25.4% for the discrete 3 year-old age group, similar to trends for Tianjin (China) and Texas (USA). Beijing’s %Pneumonia is disproportionally high relative to its Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, and markedly higher than %Pneumonia in the US and other high GNI per capita countries. Chinese diagnostic guidelines recommend chest X-ray confirmation while most other countries discourage it in favor of clinical diagnosis. Literature review shows that chest X-ray confirmation returns far fewer pneumonia diagnoses than clinical diagnosis. Accordingly, Beijing’s %Pneumonia is likely higher than indicated by raw numbers. Vaccine trials suggest that national PCV and Hib vaccination could reduce Beijing’s %Pneumonia from 26.9% to 19.7% and 24.9% respectively. Conclusion: National PCV and Hib vaccination programs would substantially reduce Beijing children’s pneumonia incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence of asthma among Shanghai children has increased over time. This increase might be associated with changes in environmental exposures. Investigation of the time-trend of asthma and current prevalences is essential to understanding the causes. Objective: To estimate the current prevalences of asthma, allergies and other respiratory symptoms among Shanghai preschool children, and to investigate the time-trend of childhood asthma prevalence of from 1990 to 2011. Methods: From April 2011 to April 2012, the CCHH (China, Children, Homes, Health) cross-sectional study was conducted in Shanghai. Questionnaires were distributed to 17,898 parents or guardians of preschool children from 72 kindergartens in 5 districts. Previous similar studies were also summarized by a systematic literature review. Results: From a total of 14,884 questionnaires for 3–7 year old children, prevalences of the following diseases and symptoms were calculated: asthma 10.2%, wheeze (ever) 28.1%, pneumonia (ever) 33.5%, otitis media 11.0%, rhinitis (ever) 54.1%, hay fever 12.2%, eczema (ever) 22.7%, and food allergy 15.7%. Urban children had higher prevalences of most symptoms than suburban children. The prevalence of asthma has increased significantly, almost five-fold, from 2.1% in 1990 to 10.2% in the present study. The prevalence of asthma in boys was higher than in girls in the present study and in all reviewed studies. Conclusions: Asthma, allergy and airway symptoms are common among preschool children in Shanghai. The prevalence of childhood asthma in Shanghai has increased rapidly from 1990 to 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]