Pnemonia:symptons?; how is it tested?; How is it treated?!
Question: Thank-you for your answers!
Answers: Thank-you for your answers!
What is pneumonia?
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can make you very sick. You may cough, run a fever, and have a hard time breathing. For most people, pneumonia can be treated at home. It often clears up in 2 to 3 weeks. But older adults, babies, and people with other diseases can become very ill. They may need to be in the hospital.
You can get pneumonia in your daily life, such as at school or work. This is called community-based pneumonia. You can also get it when you are in a hospital or nursing home. This is called hospital-based pneumonia. It may be more severe because you already are ill. This topic focuses on pneumonia you get in your daily life.
What causes pneumonia?
Germs called bacteria or viruses usually cause pneumonia.
Pneumonia usually starts when you breathe the germs into your lungs. You may be more likely to get the disease after having a cold or the flu. These illnesses make it hard for your lungs to fight infection, so it is easier to get pneumonia. Having a long-term, or chronic, disease like asthma, heart disease, cancer, or diabetes also makes you more likely to get pneumonia.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of pneumonia caused by bacteria usually come on quickly. They may include:
Cough. You will likely cough up mucus (sputum) from your lungs. Mucus may be rusty or green or tinged with blood.
Fever.
Fast breathing and feeling short of breath.
Shaking and "teeth-chattering" chills. You may have this only one time or many times.
Chest pain that often feels worse when you cough or breathe in.
Fast heartbeat.
Feeling very tired or feeling very weak.
Nausea and vomiting.
Diarrhea.
When you have mild symptoms, your doctor may call this "walking pneumonia."
Older adults may have different, fewer, or milder symptoms. They may not have a fever. Or they may have a cough but not bring up mucus. The main sign of pneumonia in older adults may be a change in how well they think. Confusion or delirium is common. Or, if they already have a lung disease, that disease may get worse.
Symptoms caused by viruses are the same as those caused by bacteria. But they may come on slowly and often are not as obvious or as bad.
Most people who develop pneumonia initially have symptoms of a cold which are then followed by a high fever (sometimes as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit), shaking chills, and a cough with sputum production. The sputum is usually discolored and sometimes bloody. Patients may become short of breath. Chest pain may develop if the outer aspects of the lung are involved. This pain is usually sharp and worsens when taking a deep breath, known as pleuritic pain.
In other cases of pneumonia, there can be a slow onset of symptoms. A worsening cough, headaches, and muscle aches may be the only symptoms. In some people with pneumonia, coughing is not a major symptom because the infection is located in areas of the lung away from the larger airways. At times, the individual's skin color may change and become dusky or purplish (a condition known as "cyanosis") due to their blood being poorly oxygenated.
Children and babies who develop pneumonia often do not have any specific signs of a chest infection, but develop a fever, appear quite ill, and can become lethargic. Elderly people may also have few symptoms with pneumonia
How is pneumonia diagnosed?
Chest X-rays
Pneumonia may be suspected when the doctor examines the patient and hears coarse breathing or crackling sounds when listening to a portion of the chest with a stethoscope. There may be wheezing, or the sounds of breathing may be faint in a particular area of the chest. A chest x-ray is usually ordered to confirm the diagnosis of pneumonia.
Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms and do a physical exam. He or she may order a chest X-ray and a blood test. This is usually enough for your doctor to know if you have pneumonia. You may need more tests if you have bad symptoms, are an older adult, or have other health problems. In general, the sicker you are, the more tests you will have.
Sputum culture
Sputum samples can be collected and examined under the microscope. Bacteria or fungi causing pneumonia can be identified by sputum culture. The most common cause of a bacterial pneumonia is Streptococcus pneumoniae.
In this form of pneumonia, there is usually an abrupt onset of the illness with shaking chills, fever, and production of a rust-colored sputum. The infection spreads into the blood in 20-30% of cases, and if this occurs, 20-30% of these patients die. A vaccine (Pneumovax) is available against S. pneumoniae and is recommended for the elderly, infants, people who have diabetes, chronic heart, lung, or kidney disease, those with alcoholism, cigarette smokers, and in those persons who have had their spleen removed
Your doctor may also test mucus from your lungs to find out what germ is causing your pneumonia. Finding the exact germ can help your doctor choose the best antibiotics for it.
A blood test that measures white blood cell count (WBC) may be performed. An individual's white blood cell count can often give a hint as to the severity of the pneumonia and whether it is caused by bacteria or a virus
Bronchoscopy is a procedure in which a thin, flexible, lighted viewing tube is inserted into the nose or mouth after a local anesthetic is administered. The breathing passages can then be directly examined by the doctor, and specimens from the infected part of the lung can be obtained.
How is it treated?
Your doctor will give you medicines called antibiotics. These almost always cure pneumonia caused by bacteria. You need to take all of your antibiotics so you get well. Do not stop taking them because you feel better. Take them exactly as your doctor tells you.
Pneumonia can make you feel very sick. But after you take antibiotics, you should start to feel much better. Call your doctor if you do not start to feel better after 2 to 3 days of antibiotics. Call your doctor right away if you feel worse.
Viral pneumonias do not typically respond to antibiotic treatment. These pneumonias usually resolve over time with the body's immune system fighting off the infection. It is important to make sure that a bacterial pneumonia does not secondarily develop. If it does, then the bacterial pneumonia is treated with appropriate antibiotics
There are things you can do to feel better during your treatment. Get plenty of rest and sleep, and drink lots of liquids. Do not smoke. If your cough keeps you awake at night, talk to your doctor about using cough medicine.
You may need to go to the hospital if you have bad symptoms, a weak immune system, or another serious illness.
Pneumonia caused by a virus usually cannot be treated with antibiotics. Home treatment, such as rest and taking care of your cough, is the only treatment.
Sometimes, fluid collects in the pleural space around the lung as a result of the inflammation from pneumonia. This fluid is called a pleural effusion. If the amount of this fluid that develops is large enough, it can be removed by inserting a needle into the chest cavity and withdrawing the fluid with a syringe in a procedure called a thoracentesis. In some cases, this fluid can become severely inflamed (parapneumonia effusion) or infected (empyema) and may need to be removed by more aggressive surgical procedures
How can you prevent pneumonia?
If you are older than 65 or you have a heart or lung problem, you may want to get a pneumonia vaccine. It may not keep you from getting pneumonia. But if you do get pneumonia, you probably will not be as sick.
You can also lower your chances of getting pneumonia by staying away from people who have the flu, colds, measles, or chickenpox. You may get pneumonia after you have one of these illnesses
Pneumonia At A Glance
Pneumonia is inflammation of one or both lungs with consolidation. Pneumonia is frequently but not always due to infection. The infection can be caused by different types of microorganisms including bacterial, viral, fungal or parasitic. Symptoms may include fever, chills, cough with sputum production, sharp chest pain on inspiration or breathing in;, and shortness of breath
Bacterial and fungal (but not viral) pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics
Recently, one of these resistant organisms from the hospital has become quite common in the community. In some communities, up to 50% of Staph aureus infections are due to organisms resistant to the antibiotic methicillin. This organism is referred to as MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staph aureas) and requires special antibiotics when it causes infection. It can cause pneumonia, but also frequently causes skin infections
Pneumonia can be a serious and life-threatening infection. This is true especially in the elderly, children, and those that have other serious medical problems, such as COPD, heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Fortunately, with the discovery of many potent antibiotics, most cases of pneumonia can be successfully treated. In fact, pneumonia can usually be treated with oral antibiotics without the need for hospitalization.
im not sure, but i Honestly think i have it at this point, it SUX!!
I had it 2 months ago. Sore throat and chest, coughing, very high fever, I spat out blood and slept alot. They gave me a chest scan and gave me some giant *** pills that wereeee callledddd Erythromycin 333mg. I had to take 3 pills a day until the LARGE bottle was done. They also gave me a asthma puffer.
oh and I was also feeling really dizzy and weird the day before I got really sick. It was a really weird feeling, I felt kind of out of it.
It is treated in various ways, usually wth meds, but you have to go to the doctor for an oficial diagnosis. Pneumonia ican be dangerous and should not go ignored.
Frequent syptoms are:
being very tired, having low energy, fever, a wheezing or rasping sound when the person breathes, and a phlegmy-sounding cough and/or the sound of fluid in the lungs.
A person can have pneumonia without having all of those things, though, and it can potentially be fatal if not properly treated.
the best way to test is a doctor will recomend x-rays,of the lungs,,if you have it the x-rays will show dark spots,,,, good luck
they treat it with antibiotics! if its to bad a hospital stay. if you think you have it seea dr before it gets to out of control.
The symptoms of pneumonia can only be tested by a licensed physician, and the treatment for such can only be prescribed by a physician.