Pneumonia Pdf
Rosella Bowlan
Most pneumonia occurs when a breakdown in your body's natural defenses allows germs to invade and multiply within your lungs. To destroy the attacking organisms, white blood cells rapidly accumulate. Along with bacteria and fungi, they fill the air sacs within your lungs (alveoli). Breathing may be labored. A classic sign of bacterial pneumonia is a cough that produces thick, blood-tinged or yellowish-greenish sputum with pus.
Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
Pneumonia can range in seriousness from mild to life-threatening. It is most serious for infants and young children, people older than age 65, and people with health problems or weakened immune systems.
The signs and symptoms of pneumonia vary from mild to severe, depending on factors such as the type of germ causing the infection, and your age and overall health. Mild signs and symptoms often are similar to those of a cold or flu, but they last longer.
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Many germs can cause pneumonia. The most common are bacteria and viruses in the air we breathe. Your body usually prevents these germs from infecting your lungs. But sometimes these germs can overpower your immune system, even if your health is generally good.
Some people catch pneumonia during a hospital stay for another illness. Hospital-acquired pneumonia can be serious because the bacteria causing it may be more resistant to antibiotics and because the people who get it are already sick. People who are on breathing machines (ventilators), often used in intensive care units, are at higher risk of this type of pneumonia.
Health care-acquired pneumonia is a bacterial infection that occurs in people who live in long-term care facilities or who receive care in outpatient clinics, including kidney dialysis centers. Like hospital-acquired pneumonia, health care-acquired pneumonia can be caused by bacteria that are more resistant to antibiotics.
Aspiration pneumonia occurs when you inhale food, drink, vomit or saliva into your lungs. Aspiration is more likely if something disturbs your normal gag reflex, such as a brain injury or swallowing problem, or excessive use of alcohol or drugs.
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can range from mild to so serious that you have to go to the hospital. It happens when an infection causes air sacs in your lungs (the alveoli) and tubes in your airways that connect to them (bronchioles) to fill with fluid or pus. That can make it hard for you to breathe in enough oxygen.
You can get pneumonia in one or both lungs. Pneumonia in both lungs is sometimes called bilateral pneumonia or double pneumonia. You can also have pneumonia and not know it. This is sometimes called walking pneumonia.
More people get this type of pneumonia than any other. While several types of bacteria can cause it, the most common in the U.S. is streptococcus. People sometimes get bacterial pneumonia after a viral infection like a cold or the flu.
Viruses, such as cold and flu viruses, cause about a third of all cases of pneumonia. They're the most common cause of the condition in children under 5. This type of infection isn't usually as serious as bacterial pneumonia, but it can be. Viral pneumonia raises your risk of also getting bacterial pneumonia.
This is a nickname for a less serious type that's officially called mycoplasma pneumonia. It's named for the bacteria that causes it. Young adults and older children most often get this type, which often doesn't require bed rest.
You can get aspiration pneumonia when you breathe in a foreign substance, like vomit, saliva, or food. You're more likely to get it if something has interfered with your gag reflex, such as a brain injury or overuse of drugs or alcohol.
Bacterial and viral types of pneumonia are contagious. The germs that cause them may spread through the air when someone who is infected talks, coughs, or sneezes. You might also get pneumonia after touching a surface that has the germs on it, then touching your mouth or nose.
The virus that causes COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia. It can also make you more prone to get an infection from other types of viruses or bacteria by weakening your immune system or causing you to need a ventilator.
Like pneumonia, bronchitis can give you a long-lasting cough, fever, fatigue, and chest pain. You can also get pneumonia after having bronchitis. But bronchitis, which results from inflammation in the tubes that carry air to your lungs, tends to be much less serious. See your doctor if you have these symptoms so they can figure out which condition you have and how best to treat it.
Atypical pneumonia is caused by bacteria that are hard for doctors to detect with standard methods, such as mycoplasma and legionella. With a mild case, you may be able to recover with rest and self-care at home. If it's more serious, your doctor will treat it with antibiotics.
Depending on what type of pneumonia you have and how sick you are, it could take anywhere from a week to a month or more to recover. You'll probably feel fatigued for a month or so. Most people continue to feel tired for about a month. You need lots of rest while you're recovering, so don't try to rush it. Ask your doctor when you can return to your usual activities. Limit contact with other people while you're sick so you don't spread the germs that cause pneumonia.
Pneumonia is a lung infection most often caused by bacteria or a virus. It may be mild enough that you can recover at home, or serious enough to put you in a hospital. Vaccines can protect you against pneumonia. See a doctor if you have trouble breathing, chest pain, a high fever, or a cough that doesn't go away.
Three pneumonia (pneumococcal) vaccines are widely used in the U.S.: PCV15, PCV20, and PCV23. PCV13 is an older vaccine, but it is still used occasionally. Doctors may use them for different people, depending on their age and health condition:
Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. The lungs are made up of small sacs called alveoli, which fill with air when a healthy person breathes. When an individual has pneumonia, the alveoli are filled with pus and fluid, which makes breathing painful and limits oxygen intake.
Pneumonia is the single largest infectious cause of death in children worldwide. Pneumonia killed 740 180 children under the age of 5 in 2019, accounting for 14% of all deaths of children under 5 years old but 22% of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5 years. Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but deaths are highest in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Children can be protected from pneumonia, it can be prevented with simple interventions, and it can be treated with low-cost, low-tech medication and care.
Pneumonia can be spread in several ways. The viruses and bacteria that are commonly found in a child's nose or throat can infect the lungs if they are inhaled. They may also spread via air-borne droplets from a cough or sneeze. In addition, pneumonia may spread through blood, especially during and shortly after birth. More research needs to be done on the different pathogens causing pneumonia and the ways they are transmitted, as this is of critical importance for treatment and prevention.
The presenting features of viral and bacterial pneumonia are similar. However, the symptoms of viral pneumonia may be more numerous than the symptoms of bacterial pneumonia. In children under 5 years of age who have cough and/or difficult breathing, with or without fever, pneumonia is diagnosed by the presence of either fast breathing or lower chest wall indrawing where their chest moves in or retracts during inhalation (in a healthy person, the chest expands during inhalation). Wheezing is more common in viral infections.
While most healthy children can fight the infection with their natural defences, children whose immune systems are compromised are at higher risk of developing pneumonia. A child's immune system may be weakened by malnutrition or undernourishment, especially in infants who are not exclusively breastfed.
Pneumonia should be treated with antibiotics. The antibiotic of choice for first line treatment is amoxicillin dispersible tablets. Most cases of pneumonia require oral antibiotics, which are often prescribed at a health centre. These cases can also be diagnosed and treated with inexpensive oral antibiotics at the community level by trained community health workers. Hospitalization is recommended only for severe cases of pneumonia.
Preventing pneumonia in children is an essential component of a strategy to reduce child mortality. Immunization against Hib, pneumococcus, measles and whooping cough (pertussis) is the most effective way to prevent pneumonia.
Adequate nutrition is key to improving children's natural defences, starting with exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life. In addition to being effective in preventing pneumonia, it also helps to reduce the length of the illness if a child does become ill.
Addressing environmental factors such as indoor air pollution (by providing affordable clean indoor stoves, for example) and encouraging good hygiene in crowded homes also reduces the number of children who fall ill with pneumonia.
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