Pneumonia - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Pneumonia or pneumonia is an infection that affects the air bubbles on one or both lungs. Air bags can be filled with fluid or pus , causing cough with mucus or purulent discharge, fever, fever and shortness of breath.

Pneumonia is usually a result of infection, however, pneumonia can also be caused by chemical damage from inhaled fluid or some toxic gas. Your doctor may tell you that you are suffering from bilateral pneumonia, which means that both lungs have contracted the disease.

Lung inflammation can be caused by several types of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. Lung inflammation can be a minor complication due to upper respiratory tract inflammation or a life-threatening illness.

Lung inflammation can vary in symptoms from mild to life-threatening. It is most severe in infants and young children, those over the age of 65 , and in people with other health problems or a weakened immune system.

Antibiotics and antiviral drugs can treat many common forms of pneumonia.

Causes of pneumonia

Lung inflammation has many possible causes. The most common are bacteria and viruses in the air we breathe or fungi that can be found in soil or bird feces. Your body usually prevents these bacteria from entering your body and infecting your lungs, but sometimes they can overwhelm your immune system, even if your health is generally good.

Lung inflammation is usually classified by the types of microorganisms that cause it and the site of infection.

Types of pneumonia

Inflammation of the general population

You can get pneumonia of the general population by performing any daily activity, such as at school, work or college. The most common cause of this pneumonia is Streptococcus pneumoniae and the second Mycoplasma pneumoniae to cause pneumonia that is not strong enough to get you to bed. Then we talk about the so-called. “Walking pneumonia” characterized by symptoms such as the common cold .

Hospital pneumonia

After hospitalization, you are at increased risk of pneumonia. Regardless of the hospital being a “sterile site”, the bacteria that feed the hospital are unfortunately impossible to completely eradicate. If your immune system is weakened – hospital pneumonia can be a great danger.

Hospital pneumonia usually occurs 48 hours after hospital admission. This type of pneumonia is most commonly affected by people over 70 years of age with pneumonia as a post-operative complication after surgery in the abdominal cavity or chest. Hospital pneumonia is most commonly caused by: Escherichia , Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella sporogenes and Staphylococcus aureus / MRSA.

Aspiration pneumonia

Aspiration pneumonia is most often due to inhalation of foreign substances such as gastric contents after vomiting. Drinking too much alcohol can also lead to aspirational pneumonia – this happens when a person loses consciousness and vomits and can breathe fluid into the lungs. Parkinson’s disease is also one of the diseases that can cause aspiration pneumonia.

Impaired immunity as a cause of pneumonia and other pathogens

When a disease such as AIDS or some type of tumor or cancer weakens the immune system, organisms that are not harmful to healthy people can be a life threatening disease to these people . What is important to note is that these types of diseases are not the only causes of impaired immunity.

Corticosteroid treatment or chemotherapy, which further weakens the immune system, is largely detrimental . However, this does not mean that these types of therapies do not work as they should, in fact, save your life.

Inflammation of the lungs can also be caused by viruses such as H5N1 or avian influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS. These types of infections are dangerous for healthy people as well. Tuberculosis can also cause pneumonia.

Symptoms of pneumonia

Signs and symptoms of pneumonia can vary from mild to severe, depending on factors such as the microorganism that causes the infection, age and overall health.

Not a single symptom of pneumonia is characteristic and does not refer exclusively to pneumonia. Depending on the cause of the infection, the rate of onset of symptoms and their severity also depend. A certain strain of the virus that causes pneumonia can kill an elderly, infirm person within 24 hours. In healthy young people, pneumonia can cause symptoms that are no more severe than the symptoms of the common cold .

Mild signs and symptoms are often similar to colds or flu, but they last longer.

The signs and symptoms of pneumonia are:

Fever , sweating and shivering.
Temperature lower than normal body temperature in people over 65 and in people with poor overall health or a weakened immune system.
Cough , which can produce thick, sticky mucus.
Chest pain when breathing or coughing.
Shortness of breath.
Fatigue and muscle aches.
Nausea and vomiting or diarrhea.
Headache

Inflammation of the lungs in children

Pneumonia in children is most often caused by some infection that first occurs in the upper respiratory system. Pneumonia in children generally begins with a cold that lasts two to three days. One in 300 children get pneumonia a year.

If the child gets extremely high temperature and starts to hyperventilate see a doctor. Pneumonia is much more dangerous in children than in other age groups. Depending on the cause of pneumonia, the type of therapy depends. Antibiotics are effective in bacteria, but not in viruses. An otherwise healthy child should be treated with timely treatment after about one week of treatment. In infants and infants, symptoms include: