Are You Likely to Get Pneumonia Again
When presidential candidate Hillary Clinton vicious casualty to pneumonia recently, questions nearly the seriousness and implications of her illness permeated the media. We as well wondered if we knew as much near the affliction as nosotros thought we did.
We sought answers from Katharine DeGeorge, Md, MS, a UVA family medicine doc voted "Best General Practitioner" in C-Ville Weekly's All-time of C-Ville 2015 and 2016, who gave us some insight.
What were your showtime thoughts when you heard Clinton had pneumonia? "Oh dear" or "no big deal"? Or "of course, she's probably wearied"?
No big bargain.
Why?
Because pneumonia is fairly common, and the vast majority of otherwise salubrious patients will recover and be able to become well-nigh their concern within a few weeks.
What exactly is pneumonia?
Regardless of whether information technology's a viral or bacterial organism causing the infection, pneumonia occurs when the infectious organisms grouping together in the lungs along with immune cells that are trying to fight the infection and interfere with normal lung function and can block the catamenia of oxygen.
Sometimes people get the flu and pneumonia dislocated – Beak Clinton called his married woman's condition the influenza, for case. What's the departure, and which is worse?
Information technology'south piece of cake to get them confused. Both are common respiratory illnesses that:
- May cause fever, cough and excessive fatigue
- Have the potential to cause serious disease or even death, though virtually people fully recover
A simple chest X-ray can aid united states brand the correct diagnosis if we aren't certain after a proficient history and concrete exam. Making the right diagnosis is important because information technology often affects our handling plans.
Flu vs. Pneumonia
The influenza:
- Caused by a virus – and so antibiotics won't help
- Infects nose, throat and lungs
- Symptoms vary but can include fever, chills, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore pharynx, nasal congestion, full general fatigue, and even diarrhea or vomiting (mainly in kids) and last about 3-vii days
- No shortness of breath in uncomplicated cases
- More contagious than pneumonia
- People unremarkably get improve on their ain with residue, fluids and over the counter medications
- Tin can develop into pneumonia in more serious cases
Pneumonia:
- Most oft acquired by a bacteria
- Affects the lower respiratory tract and lungs
- Symptoms that distinguish it from the influenza include difficulty or hurting with breathing and a persistent coughing productive of thick yellow/dark-green sputum
- Virtually people need antibiotics to become improve
- More than likely to crave hospitalization than the flu
Who Gets Pneumonia?
Are some people more prone? Does getting pneumonia mean someone has a weak immune system or something?
Getting pneumonia doesn't necessarily mean that your immune system is weak. Lots of perfectly healthy people go pneumonia.
However, the risk of developing pneumonia is college for people with certain atmospheric condition such as:
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
- Diabetes
- Chronic respiratory illness
- Dementia
- Excessive alcohol use
- Heart disease
- Smoking
- Stroke
Pneumonia can also have serious complications or fifty-fifty be deadly, especially for people who:
- Are very young (0-4 years old)
- Are age 65 and older
- Have immune systems weakened by other serious illnesses or medications
In the U.s., about 10 percent of people over the age of 65 who are hospitalized for pneumonia will dice within 30 days, so this tin can exist very serious stuff.
Do symptoms present differently in older people?
They certain can. The typical symptoms of pneumonia can be more subtle in older people, or they tin can present differently altogether, with the only sign of disease being weakness, defoliation or collapsing.
Practice stress and burnout make it worse?
Stress and exhaustion can nigh definitely lead to worse symptoms or complicating conditions, nigh notably aridity, in people with pneumonia. Dehydration itself tin atomic number 82 to weakness and confusion, and can also cause low blood pressure, which once again tin lead to weakness, beingness unsteady on your feet, and collapse. It sounds trite, but our grandmothers were right when they told united states of america to residue and drink plenty of fluids when nosotros are sick! Our bodies need to conserve every chip of energy they can to fight pneumonia and get on the route to a total recovery.
Is it obvious if someone has it? Equally in, if y'all were watching Clinton, or a colleague at work, would their symptoms be obvious or not?
Most people with pneumonia will announced at least a little sick. You might observe them:
- Coughing a lot
- Looking flushed or like they are sweating
- Walking more slowly or unsteadily
- Having a difficult time speaking or walking without having to pause to catch their breath
Some people, nevertheless, have mild cases of pneumonia that can go unnoticed altogether or be mistaken for a simple common cold, cough or allergies.
Types of Pneumonia
Some people find the difference betwixt viral and bacterial pneumonias disruptive. Which is more severe?
Ofttimes, but not always, viral pneumonia is less severe than bacterial pneumonia and requires only rest, fluids and, for some, supplemental oxygen. People with bacterial pneumonia need treatment with antibiotics without which there is a much greater risk of a prolonged or more than severe disease course and complications.
Is there such a thing as 'double' or 'triple' pneumonia? Why is it called walking pneumonia?
Walking pneumonia is a colloquialism that more often than not refers to a mild example of pneumonia, often caused by an "atypical" bacterial organism (because it's not the typical amanuensis that causes pneumonia), called Mycoplasma pneumoniae. This mild form of pneumonia can be and so mild that people don't even know they have it, or if they do, the symptoms don't preclude participation in normal activities (including walking, thus the term "walking pneumonia").
Double pneumonia (sometimes called bronchial pneumonia) simply refers to infections in two (of the 3) lobes of the lungs, and more often than not indicates a more severe infection that often requires hospitalization.
Triple pneumonia is a little more complicated. Basically it occurs when a person with pneumonia (often double pneumonia) is treated and clears the original infection, but then gets a subsequent instance of pneumonia affecting one or both lungs. Triple pneumonia carries a much worse prognosis than uncomplicated lobar pneumonia (affecting only 1 lobe).
Treatment & Prevention
How easy it is to go rid of it or stop it in its tracks?
When appropriate antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia are started right abroad, many people with pneumonia can be back to their normal state of health within a couple weeks, although some will have a lingering coughing or fatigue that can terminal for a calendar month or more.
Smokers or people with underlying lung conditions like asthma or chronic bronchitis may have a harder time getting back to baseline. The key to stopping pneumonia in its tracks is prompt diagnosis and treatment.
Is at that place a vaccine?
There are two types of pneumonia vaccines available. They protect against the about common and aggressive serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, the organism most often responsible for bacterial pneumonia. However, pneumonia can be caused by other organisms, including viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic species, so the vaccines practise not prevent confronting all forms of pneumonia. Getting pneumonia one time doesn't mean you can't get information technology again.
Nosotros recommend these vaccines equally part of routine childhood immunizations and for people aged 65 years and older, or those with certain medical problems that increase the adventure of pneumonia or its complications. The pneumonia vaccines are just given a few times during your life, which is dissimilar than influenza shots, which you should get yearly.
Concerns to Consider
As a doc, what are your chief concerns when you discover a patient has pneumonia?
The outset matter that goes through my caput when seeing a patient with suspected pneumonia is "ill or not sick." Infections similar this can pb to a severe systemic response that you don't want to miss called sepsis, which requires prompt action. Vital signs such equally body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen level and blood pressure help decide but how ill the patient is and whether or not they need to be hospitalized.
Practise You lot Have Pneumonia Symptoms?
Detect a family unit medicine or primary care doctor nearly y'all.
Another essential piece of the puzzle is determining if the infection may take been picked upwards from a infirmary or other health-care facility similar a nursing home. Pathogens that live in these places accept a greater chance of beingness antibody resistant and require unlike treatment considerations.
For most people, especially those without other serious medical conditions, a uncomplicated course of antibiotics along with remainder and fluids volition do, and they'll be dorsum on their feet in no time.
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Source: https://blog.uvahealth.com/2016/09/28/pneumonia-101-qa/
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