Introduction Little information could be obtained on the prevalence of respiratory infections in Mpumalanga province and since respiratory infections are not notifiable, information is only collected by some hospitals and clinics. Furthermore, access to this information is notoriously difficult to obtain due to issues surrounding doctor-patient confidentiality and in addition, the records of many non-urban hospitals are not kept on computer and are therefore difficult to access and query. No data for this indicator was therefore available.

Assessment of Data

Dr. Andy Beke of the University of Pretoria however, provided figures for lower respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age in Mpumalanga province for the year 2000 (Beke, 2003). This data is provided in the graph below, and shows a peak in the number of cases in the months of march and August, with the winter months showing a higher number of cases than in summer.