LAHORE: A record 490 new cases of pneumonia were reported in a single day on Monday. According to the Ministry of Health, one person also succumbed to the disease.
In the provincial capital of Lahore alone, 134 new cases were reported within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, thirteen children lost their lives to the disease on Sunday.
The Ministry of Health also reported a total of over 600 cases in 24 hours in the country’s most populous province on Sunday.
The lung disease has claimed the lives of more than 28,000 people in Pakistan since the beginning of the year.
Experts point to dry, cold weather and air pollution, particularly smog, as causing an increase in pneumonia cases across the country.
Pneumonia, an infection affecting the lungs, can be caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi. Initial symptoms resemble those of a common cold, then progress to more severe ones such as fever, chills, difficulty breathing, and coughing up altered mucus.
