Does Having Pneumonia Once Make It More Likely You Will Have It Again

Overview

In a person with pneumonia, the airways (bronchi) swell and the air spaces (alveoli) fill with fungus and other fluids.

What is pneumonia?

Pneumonia is an infection in one or both of your lungs caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi. When at that place is an infection in the lungs, several things happen, including:

• Your airways not bad (become inflamed)
• The air sacs in the lungs fill with mucus and other fluids

How do the lungs work?

Your lungs' master job is to go oxygen into your blood and remove carbon dioxide. This happens during breathing. You breathe 12 to xx times per minute when you are not sick. When yous breathe in, air travels downward the dorsum of your throat and passes through your phonation box and into your windpipe (trachea). Your trachea splits into two air passages (bronchial tubes). 1 bronchial tube leads to the left lung, the other to the right lung. For the lungs to perform their all-time, the airways need to be open every bit y'all breathe in and out. Swelling (inflammation) and mucus can get in harder to movement air through the airways, making it harder to breathe. This leads to shortness of jiff, difficulty breathing and feeling more tired than normal.

How common is pneumonia?

Approximately i 1000000 adults in the U.s. are hospitalized each year for pneumonia and l,000 dice from the disease. Information technology is the second most common reason for being admitted to the hospital -- childbirth is number one. Pneumonia is the virtually common reason children are admitted to the infirmary in the United States. Seniors who are hospitalized for pneumonia face up a higher hazard of expiry compared to any of the top 10 other reasons for hospitalization.

Is pneumonia contagious?

Certain types of pneumonia are contagious (spread from person to person). Pneumonia caused by bacteria or viruses tin can be contagious when the illness-carrying organisms are breathed into your lungs. However, not everyone who is exposed to the germs that crusade pneumonia volition develop it.

Pneumonia caused past fungi are not contagious. The fungi are in soil, which becomes airborne and inhaled, but it is non spread from person to person.

How is pneumonia spread from person to person?

Pneumonia is spread when aerosol of fluid containing the pneumonia bacteria or virus are launched in the air when someone coughs or sneezes and so inhaled by others. You can as well get pneumonia from touching an object previously touched by the person with pneumonia (transferring the germs) or touching a tissue used by the infected person and then touching your oral cavity or nose.

How long practice I remain contagious if I have pneumonia?

If you have bacterial pneumonia, you are even so considered contagious until nearly the 2nd day subsequently starting to take antibiotics and y'all no longer take a fever (if you had one). If yous have viral pneumonia, you are still considered contagious until y'all experience better and accept been gratis of fever for several days.

Who is almost at risk for getting pneumonia?

People who have an increased risk of pneumonia include:

• People over the age of 65 and infants under age 2. The weakening immune system of older people makes them less able to fight off illnesses. Similarly, the immune arrangement of infants is still developing and not at full-strength, making them more susceptible to infection.
• People with a health-caused weakened immune system. Examples include:
  • People who are receiving chemotherapy
  • Transplanted organ recipients
  • People who have HIV/AIDS
  • People with autoimmune affliction (such equally lupus, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis) and who are taking medications that suppress the immune system.
• People who have health weather condition that affect the lungs or heart. Examples include:
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Asthma
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Emphysema
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Pulmonary fibrosis
  • Interstitial pneumonia
  • Uncontrolled diabetes
  • Eye disease
  • Sarcoidosis
• People who have neurological conditions that make swallowing difficult. These people are at take chances for pneumonia caused past aspiration. Examples include:
  • Dementia
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Stroke
• People who are in the hospital. In particular, people in the ICU or anyone recovering who spends a large amounts of fourth dimension lying on their backs. This position allows fluids, mucus or germs to settle in the lungs. People who need ventilators to breathe are at even greater risk since they have a difficult fourth dimension coughing up germs that could crusade a lung infection.
• People who smoke or drinkable alcohol. Smoking damages lung tissue and long-term alcohol abuse weakens the immune organization.
• People who are exposed to toxic fumes, chemicals or secondhand smoke. These contaminants weaken lung function and brand it easier to develop a lung infection.
• Pregnant women. Being pregnant increases the hazard of developing pneumonia. This is due to the allowed system of a mother not working at full force because the body is working harder to support the growth of the baby.

Symptoms and Causes

What causes pneumonia?

Pneumonia can be caused by a wide variety of bacteria, viruses or fungi. Pneumonia is almost commonly classified past the type of germ that causes information technology and by the location where the person became infected.

Customs-acquired pneumonia is the most mutual type of pneumonia. This type of pneumonia occurs exterior of a infirmary or other healthcare facility. Causes include:

• Leaner: Streptococcus pneumoniae is the virtually mutual bacterial cause of pneumonia.
• Mycoplasma pneumoniae and other atypical bacteria: Other types of bacteria with unique features tin can cause different types of pneumonia. These include Mycoplasma pneumoniae (causes "walking" pneumonia), Chlamydia pneumoniae (causes Chlamydia pneumonia) and Legionella pneumoniae (causes Legionnaires' illness).
• Viruses: Whatsoever virus that causes a respiratory tract infection (infections of the nose, throat, trachea [windpipe], and lungs) can cause pneumonia. The viruses that cause colds and flu (influenza) can cause pneumonia.
• Fungi (molds): Pneumonia caused by fungi is the to the lowest degree common as pneumonia. Mucus in the soil in certain parts of the United States can become airborne and cause pneumonia. One example is valley fever.

Infirmary-caused pneumonia develops during a stay in the infirmary for some other illness. This type of pneumonia can be more than serious because the person is already ill and antibiotics typically used may be less effective. Bacteria adjust and alter over time when exposed to antibiotics, making them less effective (called antimicrobial resistance). People in hospitals spread their drug-resistant bacteria to others, leading to more severe and difficult-to-treat cases of pneumonia. People who are on breathing machines (ventilators) are at increased chance for hospital-acquired pneumonia.

Long-term intendance facility-acquired pneumonia occurs in long-term care facilities (such equally nursing homes) or outpatient, extended-stay clinics. Like hospitalized patients, drug-resistant bacteria are found in this setting.

Aspiration pneumonia is another blazon of pneumonia. Aspiration is when solid nutrient, liquids, saliva or vomit go down the trachea (windpipe) and into the lungs instead of going down the esophagus and into the tum. If you tin can't cough upwardly these substances, these particles remain in lung tissue and can become infected and pneumonia may develop.

What are the signs and symptoms of bacterial versus viral pneumonia in adults?

Symptoms of pneumonia tin range from mild (cold- or flu-like symptoms) sometimes called "walking pneumonia" to severe. How serious your example of pneumonia depends on the particular germ causing pneumonia, your overall wellness, and your age.

Bacterial pneumonia: Symptoms of bacterial pneumonia can develop gradually or suddenly. Symptoms include:

• High fever (up to 105° F)
• Tiredness (fatigue)
• Trouble breathing: rapid breathing or shortness of jiff
• Sweating
• Chills
• Cough with fungus (might exist greenish in color or comprise a pocket-size corporeality of blood)
• Chest pain and/or intestinal pain, especially with coughing or deep animate
• Loss of ambition
• Confused mental state or changes in sensation (especially in older adults)

Viral pneumonia: Symptoms usually develop over a menses of several days. Early symptoms are similar to flu symptoms, which include:

• Fever
• Dry out cough
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Loss of appetite
• Muscle pain
• Weakness

Additional symptoms appearing about a mean solar day later on include:

• College fever
• Coughing with fungus
• Shortness of breath

How can I tell if I accept pneumonia versus the cold or the flu?

Practise I have a cold or could it be the flu or even pneumonia? It's tough to tell the divergence simply critical to know when to seek medical intendance

Watch for these ongoing symptoms that occur in pneumonia:

• Serious congestion or chest pain.
• Difficulty animate.
• A fever of 102 or higher.
• Coughing that produces pus.

Pneumonia symptoms last longer than cold and flu. If your symptoms aren't astringent, it's okay to endeavor such habitation remedies as getting more than residuum, drinking more than fluids and taking some over-the-counter medicines and encounter what happens. Only if you don't encounter comeback in your symptoms afterward three to v days, or if you are experiencing more serious symptoms such equally dizziness or severe difficulty breathing, see your healthcare provider. Don't let it become. Pneumonia-similar symptoms in very young children or in adults older than 65 are a cause for concern. Too, pneumonia can crusade permanent lung damage if left untreated for too long. And e'er seek immediate care if you feel chest pain or take animate difficulties.

What are the signs and symptoms of pneumonia in children?

The signs and symptoms of pneumonia in children vary from child to kid and also depend on your kid's age, cause of the infection, and severity of their disease.

Usual symptoms include:

• Fever, chills, full general discomfort, sweating/flushed skin.
• Coughing.
• Rapid breathing (tachypnea).
• Difficulty animate, which can exist seen as:
  • A widening of nostrils while breathing (nasal flaring)
  • Inward movement of breast wall when a kid breaths in (lower chest in-drawing). With normal breathing, chest moves outward when breathing in.
• Wheezing.
• Hurting in breast, especially when cough or animate deeply.
• Bluish tint to lips or nails due to decreased oxygen level in the blood.
• Loss of appetite.
• Airsickness.
• Increased tiredness (fatigue).

Babies and toddlers may testify these symptoms:

• Coughing.
• Fever.
• Difficulty feeding.
• Trouble breathing. Makes a grunting sound with animate; noisy or rattly breathing.
• Temporarily finish breathing during sleep.
• Decreased corporeality of urine production.
• Pale color
• Appear limp.
• Cry more than usual. Are restless or more fussy.

Adolescents take the same symptoms as adults, including:

• Cough.
• Fever.
• Difficulty breathing/shortness of breath.
• Chest pain.

Newborns are at greater risk of pneumonia caused by bacteria nowadays in the birth canal. In young children, viruses are the primary cause of pneumonia.

Pneumonia caused by bacteria tends to happen suddenly, starting with fever and fast breathing. Symptoms appear more slowly and tend to be less severe when pneumonia is acquired by viruses.

Are symptoms of pneumonia dissimilar in seniors?

Older adults may take milder symptoms and may not take a fever. A sudden change in mental country is sometimes a sign of pneumonia in this age group.

Is it possible to have pneumonia without having a fever?

Information technology'south not the norm but, yes, it's possible to take pneumonia with a low fever or fifty-fifty no fever. If this occurs, it's ordinarily in the very immature (newborns and infants) and in older adults or adults with a weakened immune system.

What are the complications of pneumonia?

Anyone can experience complications from pneumonia. However, people in high-hazard groups are more than likely to develop complications, including:

• Breathing difficulties: Pneumonia can brand breathing difficult. Pneumonia plus an existing lung disorder (such as COPD, emphysema, asthma) can make breathing fifty-fifty more hard. Breathing difficulties may crave a hospital stay to receive oxygen therapy or breathing and healing assistance with the apply of a breathing machine (ventilator).
• Fluid buildup in the lungs (called pleural effusion or "water on the lungs"): Pneumonia can cause a buildup in the fluid betwixt the membranes that line the lungs and the inside of the chest crenel. Information technology is a serious condition that makes animate hard. Pleural effusion tin be treated by draining excess fluid with a catheter, breast tube or by surgery.
• Bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia): The bacteria that cause pneumonia tin can leave your lungs and enter your bloodstream, spreading the infection to other organs. This condition is treated with antibiotics.
• Lung abscess. A lung abscess is a pus-filled cavity in the lung that is acquired past a bacterial infection. It tin can be treated by draining the pus with a long needle or removing it past surgery.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is pneumonia diagnosed?

Your doctor will do a thorough examination. During your exam he or she will:

• Ask about your health history and conduct a physical exam.
• Listen to your lungs with a stethoscope.
• Perhaps club a chest X-ray to wait for signs of pneumonia and the extent of the infection.
• Bear a pulse oximetry test to measure the amount of oxygen in your blood (indicates how well your lungs are moving oxygen into your bloodstream).
• Order laboratory tests of your blood and/or mucus to make up one's mind the blazon of infection – bacteria, virus, or fungus – that has caused pneumonia.

If you are a high-take a chance patient, your doctor may order other tests.

Management and Treatment

How is pneumonia treated?

How pneumonia is treated depends on the germs that cause it.

• Bacterial pneumonia: Bacterial pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. The specific antibiotic selection depends on such factors as your full general health, other health weather condition you may have, the type of medications you are currently taking (if any), your recent (if any) use of antibiotics, whatever evidence of antibiotic resistance in the local customs and your historic period. Medicines to relieve hurting and lower fever may too be helpful. Ask your md if you should take a cough suppressant. It's of import to be able to coughing to articulate your lungs.
• Viral pneumonia: Antibiotics are non used to fight viruses. (In some cases antibiotics may exist given to fight a bacterial infection that is also nowadays.) There are no treatments for about viral causes of pneumonia. Withal, if the flu virus is idea to exist the cause, antiviral drugs might be prescribed, such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu®), zanamivir (Relenza®), or peramivir (Rapivab®), to decrease the length and severity of the disease. Over-the-counter medicines to relieve pain and lower fever are usually recommended. Other medicines and therapies such as breathing treatments and exercises to loosen fungus may exist prescribed by your dr..
• Fungal pneumonia: Antifungal medication is prescribed if a fungus is the cause of your pneumonia.

Is pneumonia treated any differently in children?

Essentially no. Just like adults, bacterial causes of pneumonia in children may exist treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are not used to care for pneumonia acquired by viruses. Influenza-related pneumonia may be treated with antiviral medicine if caught early in the form of disease. Most cases of pneumonia are treated with "comfort intendance" measures that ease symptoms. These may include:

• Drinking more fluids.
• Getting more than residual.
• Taking over-the-counter medicines for cough and acetaminophen for fever. Be certain to bank check with your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns about giving medicines to your child.
• Using a absurd mist humidifier in your child's room.

How soon subsequently treatment for pneumonia will I brainstorm to experience meliorate?

How before long you volition feel amend depends on several factors, including:

• Your age
• The cause of your pneumonia
• The severity of your pneumonia
• If you accept other "at-take a chance" weather condition

If y'all are generally salubrious, nearly symptoms of bacterial pneumonia usually begin to amend within 24 to 48 hours afterward starting handling. Symptoms of viral pneumonia unremarkably begin to improve within a few days later starting treatment. A cough tin last for several weeks. Almost people report being tired for most a month after contracting pneumonia.

When would I need to exist hospitalized for pneumonia?

If your case of pneumonia is more severe, you lot may need to stay in the hospital for treatment. Infirmary treatments may include:

• Oxygen
• Fluids, antibiotics and other medicines given through an Four (direct into the vein)
• Animate treatments and exercises to help loosen fungus

People nearly likely to be hospitalized are those who are most frail and/or at increased adventure, including:

• Babies and immature children
• People over age 65
• People with weakened allowed systems
• People with health weather that affect the heart and lungs

It may take six to 8 weeks to render to a normal level of functioning and well-being if you've been hospitalized with pneumonia.

Prevention

Are vaccines available to forbid pneumonia?

Yes, there are two types of vaccines (shots) specifically approved to prevent pneumonia caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Similar to a flu shot, these vaccines won't protect confronting all types of pneumonia, but if you practice come down with pneumonia, information technology's less probable to be as severe or potentially life-threatening – especially for people who are at increased risk for pneumonia.

• Bacterial pneumonia: Ii pneumonia vaccines, Pneumovax23® and Prevnar13®, protect against the most common causes of bacterial pneumonia.
  • Pneumovax23® protects against 23 dissimilar types of pneumococcal bacteria. It is recommended for all adults 65 years of age and older and children over 2 years of age who are at increased run a risk for pneumonia.
  • Prevnar13® protects confronting xiii types of pneumonia bacteria. It is recommended for all adults 65 years of age and older and children nether 2 years of age. Ask your healthcare provider about these vaccines.
• Viral pneumonia: Get a influenza vaccine (shot) in one case every yr. Flu vaccines are prepared to protect against that twelvemonth's virus strain. Having the influenza can arrive easier to get bacterial pneumonia.

If yous have children, enquire their physician virtually other vaccines they should get. Several babyhood vaccines help prevent infections caused by the leaner and viruses that can pb to pneumonia.

Besides vaccination, what else can I practise to prevent bacterial and viral pneumonia?

Receiving all recommended vaccinations is ane of the best ways to forestall pneumonia. Additionally, there are several other ways to preclude pneumonia, including:

• Quitting smoking, and avoiding secondhand fume. Smoking damages your lungs.
• Washing your hands before eating, earlier handling nutrient, after using the restroom, and after being outside. If soap is non available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Avoiding being effectually people who are ill. Ask them to visit when they are feeling better.
• Not touching or sharing objects that are shared with others. Germs can exist transferred from object to you lot if you touch your nose or mouth without washing or sanitizing your hands first.
• Eating a good for you diet, exercise, and get enough residue. Healthy habits go along your allowed organisation stiff.
• Getting treated for any other infections or health conditions you lot may accept. These conditions could weaken your allowed system, which could increase your gamble of infections.
• Avoiding excessive consumption of alcohol.

Outlook / Prognosis

What is the outlook for pneumonia?

People who are otherwise salubrious often recover quickly when given prompt and proper care. Still, pneumonia is a serious status and can be life-threatening if left untreated and specially for those individuals at increased hazard for pneumonia.

Even patients who have been successfully treated and have fully recovered may face long-term health issues. Children who have recovered from pneumonia have an increased adventure of chronic lung diseases. Adults may experience:

• Decreased power to exercise
• Worsening of cardiovascular illness
• Mental refuse
• General pass up in quality of life for months or years

Living With

What can I practise to feel meliorate if I accept pneumonia?

• Finish all medications and therapies prescribed by your md. Practice not cease taking antibiotics when yous first feeling better. Continue taking them until no pills remain. If you don't take all your antibiotics, your pneumonia may come dorsum.
• If over-the-counter medicines to reduce fever have been recommended (aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen), take as directed on the label. Never requite aspirin to children.
• Drink plenty of fluids to help loosen phlegm.
• Quit smoking if you smoke. Don't be effectually others who fume or vape. Surround yourself with as much clean, chemical-free air as possible.
• Apply a humidifier, accept a steamy shower or bathroom to go far easier for you to breathe.
• Get lots of rest. Don't rush your recovery. It tin can take weeks to get your full strength back.

If at whatsoever time you start to experience worse, call your dr. right abroad.

When can I render to piece of work, school and regular activities if I accept pneumonia?

You typically tin resume your normal activities if your symptoms are gone, mild or improving and you do non have new or worsening:

• Shortness of jiff or tiredness (less free energy)
• Chest hurting
• Fungus, fever or cough

If you are generally healthy, near people feel well enough to return to previous activities in about a week. Withal, information technology may have about a month to feel totally back to normal.

When should I meet a physician?

Phone call your doctor if yous:

• Accept new or worsening:
  • Shortness of breath with activities or when lying down
  • Fever or cough with mucus
  • Tiredness (fatigue)
• Have a change in appetite (less hunger)
• Feel uneasy and know that something is not right

If you or your loved ane with symptoms is in a loftier, "at-take chances" group, see your doctor as soon as possible. Pneumonia tin become a life-threatening condition.

When should I get to the emergency room?

Go to the emergency room or call 911 if y'all:

• Struggle to breathe or are short of breath while sitting still
• Have new or worsening chest pain
• Are dislocated or cannot call up clearly

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Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4471-pneumonia

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