WHO Management of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea in Children Up to 10 Years of Age Guideline Summary - Guideline Central
Summary of Recommendations
Document Overview

Management of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea in Children Up to 10 Years of Age

World Health Organization


Publication Date: Dec 31, 2024

Page Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE)-Based Recommendations

Implications for:Strong Recommendation (S)Conditional Recommendation (C)
PatientsMost individuals in this situation would want the recommended course of action, and only a small proportion would not.The majority of individuals in this situation would want the suggested course of action, but many would not.
CliniciansMost individuals should receive the intervention. Adherence to this recommendation according to the guideline could be used as a quality criterion or performance indicator. Formal decision aids are not likely to be needed to help individuals make decisions consistent with their values and preferences.Recognize that different choices will be appropriate for individual patients and that you must help each patient arrive at a management decision consistent with his or her values and preferences. Decision aids may be useful in helping individuals to make decisions consistent with their values and preferences.
PolicyThe recommendation can be adopted as policy in most situations.Policymaking will require substantial debate and involvement of various stakeholders.
Certainty in the Evidence
HighHLowL
ModerateMVery LowVL

Source: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation Working Group (Schunemann HJ et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006;174:605-14. Guyatt GH et al. BMJ 2008;336:924-6).

Document Overview

Document Title
Management of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea in Children Up to 10 Years of Age
Authoring Society

World Health Organization

Document Publication Date
Dec 31, 2024
Page Last Reviewed/Updated
May 5, 2026
Document Type
Guideline
Country of Publication
Global
Full Text Freely Available
Yes
Full Text Guideline
iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/380059/9789240103412-eng.pdf?sequence=1
Source Citation

Guideline on management of pneumonia and diarrhoea in children up to 10 years of age. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Document Scope, Criteria, and Use Cases

Document Objectives

Pneumonia and diarrhoea account for 23% of under-five mortality and were responsible for an estimated 1.17 million deaths in children under five globally. Furthermore, pneumonia and diarrhoea were responsible for 18% of mortality in children 5–9 years of age, resulting in an estimated 86 000 preventable deaths globally in 2021. Existing World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the clinical management of pneumonia and diarrhoea has mainly focused on children less than 5 years of age. WHO had not developed clinical guidance on the management of these conditions in children 5–9 years of age, which is a gap being addressed in response to calls from national policy- and decision-makers. The goal of the guideline is to develop, update and consolidate recommendations on the management of pneumonia and diarrhoea in order to inform, revise or update the development of clinical protocols for the management of pneumonia and diarrhoea in children up to 10 years of age. This guideline aims to help WHO Member States and their partners make evidence-informed decisions on the appropriate actions in their efforts to address common childhood illnesses, including pneumonia and diarrhoea. The main changes from previous recommendations involve giving greater scope for pneumonia treatment at the community level, using a specific set of signs and symptoms to diagnose hypoxaemia when pulse oximetry is not available, and a new dose for zinc supplementation. The recommendations are intended for a wide audience involved in the management of pneumonia and diarrhoea in children.

Scope
Assessment and Screening, Diagnosis, Management
Diseases/Conditions (MeSH)

D011014 - Pneumonia

D003967 - Diarrhea

D011014 - Pneumonia

D003967 - Diarrhea

Keywords
Diarrhoea, diarrhea, pneumonia
Inclusion Criteria
Male, Female, Child, Infant
Health Care Settings
Ambulatory, Outpatient
Intended Users
Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Physician, Physician Assistant
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