There was a 42% increase in the number of pneumonia cases in the country in the first quarter of the year.
According to figures from the National Registry of Diseases, Kenya had 137,667 cases of pneumonia from January to early February which spiked to 195,504 cases between then and March.
As per a report by the Daily Nation on Tuesday, March 31, experts are tentatively suggesting a link between the pneumonia cases and the Covid-19 virus.
One popular guess is that people could be dying from Covid-19 related pneumonia which may have occurred even before the first case was reported in the country on March 13.
This hypothesis was bolstered by the death of 17 children Kilifi with signs eerily similar to Covid-19.
Owing to this, the Respiratory Society of Kenya has cautioned that any case of pneumonia should be treated as a suspected Covid-19 case until proven to be pneumonia.
It was however found difficult to differentiate between Covid-19 and pneumonia as the two share similar symptoms.
In fact, when Coviid-19 was first flagged in late 2019, it started as a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause.
This cause of the pneumonia was later linked back to a new virus termed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2, or Sars-CoV-2.
Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, a respiratory physician confirmed that it remained difficult to differentiate between Covid-19 and pneumonia.
This was due to the fact that all respiratory illnesses presented with the same symptoms, being severe - cough, fever, difficulty in breathing and shortness of breath.
Although doctors have remained sceptic about linking pneumonia to Covid-19, data paints a different picture.
Data from the Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health highlighted that viruses caused 61% of the most severe pneumonia cases.
Studies have also shown that the most severe cases of Covid-19 will have an element of pneumonia.
There are currently few means available to public hospitals for distinguishing whether pneumonia affecting Kenyans is caused by a virus or bacteria.
Experts have however cautioned against labelling pneumonia cases as Covid-19. This wrong diagnosis could lead to more deaths as pneumonia is given less attention.
