With the assistance of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Salvadoran authorities will investigate the cause of the high mortality rate associated with pneumonia in this country, where 326 people have died of the illness so far this year. Mario Serpas, epidemiology monitoring chief at the Health Ministry, said the studies will be conducted and ready in two months, and it will be determined if the pneumonia victims received appropriate medical treatment.

So far this year 65,700 Salvadorans have contracted pneumonia, although the peak number of cases occurred in the last week of July, with 6,453. The figures for mid-August showed a 40-percent decline in reported cases.

Almost 85 percent of the cases reported involve children under age five, concentrated mostly in the northern departments of Santa Ana, Morazán and La Libertad, said Serpa.