Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that causes them to become inflamed. It is responsible for as many as 60,000 deaths each year in just the United States and pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The elderly and those with impaired immune systems are greatly at risk from pneumonia, which is brought about by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other micro-organisms. The symptoms of pneumonia can take their toll on a person but treatments for the disease have improved greatly and can handle most cases in otherwise healthy individuals.
Bacterial Pneumonia Symptoms
Bacterial pneumonia is a common form of the disease. The symptoms will often appear rapidly in people that are younger than 65 years old. The condition usually will begin during or even after an upper respiratory infection. Bacterial pneumonia symptoms include a cough that will cause mucus to come up from the lungs. This mucus will most often be greenish or rust-colored and can have flecks of blood in it. A fever can occur, but in older adults this symptom is often missing. Chills and shallow breathing are other bacterial pneumonia symptoms as are chest pains that worsen when the person coughs or attempts to breathe in deeply. Fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea accompanied by vomiting are not uncommon in bacterial pneumonia patients.
Viral Pneumonia Symptoms
An estimated half of all pneumonia cases are viral in nature. The viral pneumonia symptoms in the initial stages of the ailment are a fever, muscle pains and aches, tiredness, headaches, and a dry cough which produces no mucus or phlegm. As viral pneumonia worsens the symptoms can include shortness of breath and a cough that now brings clear or white phlegm up from the lungs. Viral pneumonia can easily develop into bacterial pneumonia, bringing those symptoms into play. The symptoms of viral pneumonia are not as dramatic as those of bacterial pneumonia and occur more gradually.
Walking and Fungal Pneumonia
A minute organism called a mycoplasma can cause what is called walking pneumonia. The symptoms of this type of the malady resemble those of bacterial and viral pneumonia but are much less severe. Often the person with walking pneumonia thinks they just have a bad cold or the flu and this makes the disease easily spread as the individual will not seek medical treatment and transfer the condition to others they meet. A dry and persistent cough is the hallmark symptom of walking pneumonia. Fungi can cause a severe pneumonia with extreme symptoms that can last for a weeks or months but this kind of pneumonia is very rare. The symptoms include the coughing and fever, with muscle pain and nausea also present.
Treating Bacterial Pneumonia
Antibiotics are the most successful option when doctors treat bacterial pneumonia patients. Factors such as the person's age, severity of the symptoms, and overall well being are considered before choosing a course of antibiotics. Often pneumonia can be treated at home, with prescription antibiotics such as azithromycin, clarithromycin and erythromycin. Levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and doxycycline are also employed against bacterial pneumonia and a person can be sent home from the doctor with these. Serious cases of the illness will require a hospital stay and in addition to the aforementioned drugs medications such as amoxicillin, ampicillin, cefotaxime, and cefepime can be utilized. Younger patients should expect to see improvement of symptoms in as little as two to three days while older adults may take longer to recover. If a strain of bacteria that is antibiotic-resistant is causing the disease then cultures will need to be taken and specific drugs utilized against it.
Other Pneumonia Treatments
Viral pneumonia is treated with a combination of rest and keeping the person hydrated. Sometimes anti-viral drugs are used since antibiotics are not effective at all against viral pneumonia. Walking pneumonia treatment includes antibiotics when the person does seek medical help but the recovery is normally a long and drawn out process. Antifungal drugs are used for those with fungi related pneumonia. All cases of pneumonia can be treated with the intent to lessen symptoms. Pain relievers and medications to ease coughing symptoms are commonly taken. Cough suppressants are not recommended in the early stages because a doctor will want the patient to be able to clear their lungs of mucus and phlegm. Oxygen and intravenous drugs are called for in the worst instances of pneumonia, as the patient will have breathing difficulties, especially if they are very elderly.
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