Health Situation of Children in Southern Africa The impacts of El Niño and La Niña are expected to more than double the regular caseloads of childhood illnesses (malaria, cholera, pneumonia, measles and diarrhoea) in the most affected countries. • Diarrhoea cases among children are expected to increase up to 4 times that of the regular yearly cases. • Projections of pneumonia cases among children show a 1.5 times increase in cases. • An estimated 11.8 million children are likely to be affected by malaria, cholera, diarrhoea, measles and/or pneumonia, with 7.5 million of these cases directly related to the impacts of El Nino.