The journal The Lancet published a study stating that two-thirds of the 8.8 million deaths among children under five are caused by an infectious disease like pneumonia, diarrhea or malaria.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF released these results obtained in 2008.
68% of deaths among children under five are caused by an infection and nearly half of these deaths occur in developing countries like India, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan and China.
Moreover, the study noted that 41% of these deaths among children under five were babies aged 0-27 days. Almost half of the children did not reach their first month of life. The highest number of deaths, 4.2 million children in total, was in Africa.
In more developed countries, the infant mortality rate is lower, but still present. The most common causes are complications with premature births, congenital anomalies, asphyxia at birth or death resulting from injury.