Pneumonia

Pneumonia symptoms and treatment

Pneumonia is a lung infection. We now have a vaccine for pneumonia, but it’s only effective against the most common form of bacterial pneumonia that’s caused by one specific bacterium: Pneumococcus. Other types of pneumonia are caused by different viruses, fungi and other types of bacteria.

Fatal Diseases

Pneumonia used to kill about 33 percent of the people who developed it. In the United States today, however, about 3 million people will develop some form of pneumonia each year and only about 6,000 will die of the disease. Still, that makes it a common cause of death.

Is pneumonia contagious? Yes. You can catch pneumonia in the same way that you can catch the common cold, the flu and many other viruses and infections. If someone coughs or sneezes and you inhale the tiny droplets of moisture and your immune system can’t resist the organisms, then you will probably develop pneumonia. People in good physical health can usually fight it off before it becomes problematic. If you’re unable to fight it off, the organisms that cause pneumonia will settle in the lungs and multiply. Your lungs will fill with fluid as your body tries to protect itself.

People with pneumonia usually appear mildly ill, as they would with a head or chest cold. Soon, though, a fever, chills and cough develop. The cough will be productive with dark mucus, and there may be difficulty breathing. Some people will have sharp pains when taking a breath. The very young and very old may have fewer symptoms, and simply appear ill and fatigued.

Pneumonia Treatment

Pneumonia is treated with prescription medications including antibiotics. For cases that require hospitalization, stronger and more specific antibiotics are used, and breathing treatments are used to help clear the lungs. For those who don’t need to be hospitalized, a broad-spectrum antibiotic is prescribed.

There’s a type of pneumonia that’s much milder, and seems more like a cold or flu the whole time the illness is present. This is known as walking pneumonia. Walking pneumonia symptoms are the same as flu symptoms, for the most part. Antibiotics are used to treat this type of pneumonia, too.