PNEUMONIA

Pneumonia is an infection that causes inflammation in the lungs. Puss and other liquid fill the lungs making it harder and harder for oxygen to get into the bloodstream. Without enough oxygen, cells cannot operate correctly and with the spreading infection, this disease could cause death.

Causes and Symptoms:

Pneumonia has over 30 different causes but there are five main causes. There is Bacterial Pneumonia, Viral Pneumonia, Mycoplasma Pneumonia, Pneumocystis carinii Pneumonia, and Tuberculosis Pneumonia.

*Bacterial –

When things like old age, malnutrition, illness, weaken someone’s immune system bacteria multiply and get into the lungs causing air sacs to inflame. The most common cause of bacterial pneumonia would be streptococcus pneumonia.

Symptoms include shaking chills, chattering teeth, severe chest pain, and a cough that produces rust-colored or greenish mucus. In other cases, there may be a temperature as high as 105 degrees F and a bluish color around the lips and nails.

*Viral –

The virus attacks the lungs but there is no sign of fluid build-up. Most of the infected have had pre-existing heart and lung conditions and several have been pregnant.

Symptoms of viral pneumonia look just like symptoms from influenza like fever, dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Twelve to thirty-six hours later, the infected will have extreme breathlessness, worse cough, high fever and a bluish color around the lips.

*Mycoplasma –

It is believed to be from an unknown virus and was called primary atypical pneumonia. Mycoplasmas cause a mild yet widespread case of pneumonia. It affects all age groups but the death rate is low even in untreated cases.

Symptoms include coughs that come in violent attacks with a little bit of whitish mucus, in the early stages there is a fever and chills and some even experience nausea, vomiting, and long lasting weakness.

*Pneumocystis carinii –

It is pneumonia believed to be caused by a fungus. It can be treated to prevent or lengthen time before recurrence but without treatment, it is bound to happen again.

*Various Chemicals –

Inhaling different chemicals can cause trouble breathing and increase your chances of viral and bacterial infection, which could lead to pneumonia.

Treatment:

If it is caught early, antibiotics can cure bacterial pneumonia and shorten recovery time from mycoplasma pneumonia. As for viral pneumonia, several antiviral drugs for different viruses can be used for treatment. Even if symptoms are subsiding, treatment must remain the same because relapses could be much worse than the original attack. Other than taking the proper antibiotics, the patient must also eat properly and if necessary, they are given oxygen to increase the levels in the blood.

Interesting Facts:

*About 2 million people in the US are infected with Pneumonia in 1 year and out of those, 40,000 to 70,000 people die.

*In developing countries pneumonia is 5 times more common and the death rate can be anywhere from 10-50 times higher than in developed countries.

*Small children less than the age of one, living in the poorest communities, are mostly the ones to suffer and die of this condition.

Sources:

http://www.lungusa.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=4294229&ct=3052571#causes

http://www.webmd.com/lung/tc/pneumonia-topic-overview

http://www.theunion.org/download/clh/10facts_pneumonia_children.pdf