Vaccines as Tools to Reduce ARI Burden: Merits and Some Inherent Verticality in the Debate

Acute respiratory infections (ARI)continue to stay among the main causesof child mortality. Even in the generalpopulation, they are the leading cause of acute morbidities globally. Developing countries are the worst sufferers where they top the list of causes of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) lost. Estimates suggest that the incidence density of ARI in underfive children among developing and industrialized world is 0.29 and 0.05 episodes per child-year, accounting for 151 million and 5 million new episodes each year, respectively. India (4