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What are Symptoms Of Pneumonia – Causes, And Treatment

Symptoms Of Pneumonia – Due to a lot of reasons, the world is full of diseases. More than 65% of people are suffering from one or More chronic diseases. Each organ of the human body can develop several diseases. 

For example, the lungs can develop several diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, Emphysema, lung cancer, and pneumonia. 

Today we will talk only about pneumonia. We will try to cover every aspect of the disease, starting from symptoms to all the way treatments. So let’s take a look at it.

What is Pneumonia?

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can happen in one or both lungs at the same time. Usually, it is caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. It may cause mild to severe symptoms that you have to get hospitalized.

The virus or infection fills the air sacs in your lungs with fluid or pus. Even though anyone can get pneumonia, infants younger than age two and people over 65 are more vulnerable.

There are a few causes of pneumonia starting from lifestyle habits such as smoking cigarettes, and drinking too much alcohol is one of the primary ones.

Symptoms Of Pneumonia
Symptoms Of Pneumonia

Symptoms of Pneumonia

Let’s take a look at the signs or symptoms of pneumonia. We will only talk about the major signs or symptoms of pneumonia.

Cough with phlegm

The first and most common symptom of pneumonia is a cough with phlegm. Most of the people who developed pneumonia of any stage usually complained about having a cough with or without phlegm.

Phlegm, Also known as mucus, is a slimy substance from deep in your lungs. A patient may produce greenish, yellowish, or even bloody mucus during the infection.

Fever and chills

Fever and chills are the second most common symptom of pneumonia. More than 70% of people who get infected with pneumonia develop fever and chills from an early stage of the infection.

Usually, when you feel fever and chills, they may go away within a few days with or without the help of medication. But, if you have pneumonia, the fever and chills won’t go away easily even after taking medicine.

Shortness of breath

As you already know that with pneumonia, you have a high chance of developing cough and phlegm. That phlegm can also cause shortness of breath, and it fills the lungs with a heavy substance that is very hard for the lungs to breathe in with that.

Generally, people who get mucus also develop shortness of breath, but it is not very common as other symptoms such as cough and fever. There are chances that if you have developed shortness of breath in pneumonia, it might be a signal that pneumonia is severe.

Chest pain

Chest pain is another not very common symptom in all the patients with pneumonia, but it is very common in people who are in a severe pneumonia range. There is a huge number of people who didn’t even develop chest pain at all during their pneumonia.

When people affected with pneumonia develop chest pain, they usually feel it when they breathe hard or cough. Kindly take care if you are having chest pain while breathing. You might have walking pneumonia.

Symptoms Of Pneumonia
Symptoms Of Pneumonia

Nausea and vomiting

It is very common that if you are not able to breathe normally and you get a fever regularly, nausea and vomiting are the next symptoms you might develop or start noticing.

It is also possible that you might not develop nausea and vomiting when pneumonia is on the mild to lower side. But, there is a high probability that as soon as your pneumonia gets to a mild to severe range, you will start feeling nausea and vomiting.

These are just a few symptoms of pneumonia. Other than that, you might also develop diarrhea, loss of appetite, headaches due to heavy breathing, lack of energy, etc.

Not every person who gets pneumonia needs to develop these symptoms. There is a condition called walking pneumonia in which people Don’t even develop any symptoms, but they can infect others also.

Other than that, infants might not develop any symptoms but sometimes vomit, or trouble drinking and eating are the common symptoms. 

Causes of Pneumonia

Let’s take a look at all the causes of pneumonia. Many germs can cause pneumonia. Many bacteria, fungal and viral infections can be the primary cause of pneumonia.

Community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia is one of the most common types of pneumonia. Usually, it occurs outside the hospital and other health care facilities. There are a few factors that can cause community-acquired pneumonia.

Some bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumonia, Are a very common cause of bacterial pneumonia in the United States. It can occur on its own or after you have had a cold or flu.

Mycoplasma can also cause pneumonia, and it usually has mild, mild symptoms than any other type of pneumonia. Walking pneumonia is an informal name given to mycoplasma, and as you already know that typically it isn’t severe.

If you already have a chronic health problem or weak immune system, you might be more vulnerable to Fungi pneumonia. 

Viruses such as COVID-19 can also cause pneumonia. pneumonia caused by viruses is one of the most common causes in children younger than age 5. there have been many studies in which it is proved that over 19 can also cause lung damage as well as pneumonia

Hospital-acquired pneumonia

There have been many cases in which people caught pneumonia during a hospital stay for other illnesses. It is one of the most dangerous causes of pneumonia because the bacteria causing pneumonia during hospital stay might be resistant to antibodies. 

Treatment of Pneumonia

Now let’s take a look at how you can treat pneumonia. First, every expert will suggest that you get vaccinated as soon as possible. There are a few vaccines available for some types of pneumonia and the flu. You should talk to your doctor about getting these shots.

Quit smoking

Smoking can further increase the symptoms of pneumonia, and there is also a possibility that smoking might not let the treatment work. Doctors will suggest you quit smoking if you ever develop pneumonia.

Prescription medicine

prescribed medicine is the first step when it comes to the treatment of pneumonia. Your doctor might suggest oral antibody medication, which can treat most bacterial pneumonia cases. 

If you ever develop fungal pneumonia, your doctor will recommend antifungal medications to treat pneumonia. You will have to take the whole course of medication, which might take several weeks to clear the complete infection.

Home remedies

Usually, home remedies can not help you treat pneumonia, but they can lower the symptoms and further help the medication work as fast as possible.

You should take care of coughing by using natural ways such as gargling salt water or drinking peppermint tea. If you have developed chills due to pneumonia, you should have a nice warm bowl of soup.

Hospitalization

There are a few changes that your doctor might ask you to get hospitalized as soon as possible because of the severity. Add the hospital, and your doctors keep track of your vitals such as heart rate, temperature, etc. [Source]

Takeaways

Pneumonia is a very common lung problem among the people of the United States. As per the statistics, more than 3 million people each year get infected. There are a few types of pneumonia, but usually, doctors classify them into two major categories.

There are many symptoms of open pneumonia such as fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, chest pain, cough, etc. these symptoms are different for infants and children younger than age 5. If your infant is having trouble breathing or hissing sound, it could be due to pneumonia.

Pneumonia can be caused by different types of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. And the treatment of open pneumonia depends on the cause. For example, doctors won’t recommend antifungal medication to treat pneumonia if a person develops pneumonia due to viruses. 

What is walking pneumonia?

Walking pneumonia is also a type of pneumonia That generally does not have any severe symptoms. People with walking pneumonia may not even know that they have a disease such as pneumonia. Usually, they don’t develop any symptoms, and it may feel like a mild respiratory infection. Walking pneumonia requires a longer period of recovery than regular pneumonia. A patient might develop symptoms such as mild fever, chills, chest pain, shortness of breath, etc.

Are there any stages of pneumonia?

Yes, dear are a few stages of pneumonia. Doctors may classify them based on the area they are affecting the lungs. For example, bronchopneumonia is Out of your lungs and localized close to or around your bronchi. And if you have pneumonia in your lobes, the doctor will call it lobar pneumonia. Even though low bar pneumonia can be further divided into four stages but usually these are two major classifications.