OBJECTIVES : Estimate the number of deaths that could be caused or aggravated by pneumonia on patients with high risk comorbidities according to the definition of the Brazilian National Immunization Program (NIP).

METHODS : A retrospective analysis of the Brazilian public health system database (DATASUS) was carried out during the period from November 2016 to November 2017, in order to obtain: A) Data on prevalence and mortality rate of patients above 5 years old with pneumonia. B) Morbidity and mortality rates of the 17 comorbidities attributed as high risk factors according to the NIP.

Obtained the prevalence and mortality rates of pneumonia in healthy patients, the same rate was applied to each available comorbidity population to determinate a conservative estimate of the number of cases that would be affected for both diseases.

RESULTS : According to available data, in the studied period approximately in a population of 193 million people were notified 457,784 people over 5 years of age were hospitalized for pneumonia, resulting in 58,300 deaths (12.74 mortality rate). Utilizing the same rates for the population with comorbidities was possible to identify at least 83 cases and 11 deaths for HIV, 138 cases and 18 deaths for asthma, 1362 cases and 174 deaths for cardiopathy, 12 cases and 2 deaths for chronic nephropathy, 83 cases and 11 deaths for cancer, and 327 cases and 42 deaths for diabetes patients; resulting in at least 410 cases and 53 deaths. This numbers are greatly conservative since many of the cases categorized as risk factors by the NIP are currently unavailable in DATASUS due to morbidity grouping.

CONCLUSIONS : Considering that Pneumonia is a disease that can be avoided by vaccination that is available on SUS. It is necessary to continue and increase the expansion and efficiency of the NIP vaccination policies.