This blog will tell you about Pneumonia. First we will explain the possible Causes of Pneumonia. Then we will discuss the common Symptoms of Pneumonia Infection. Secondly, we will elaborate the for basic Types of Pneumonia in detail. Then we will talk about the Diagnosis of Pneumonia. Thirdly, we will shine a light on the Treatment of Pneumonia. At the end, we will discuss the preventive measures for Pneumonia in detail. This blog covers Causes, Symptoms, Types, Treatment and Prevention for Pneumonia. 

What is Pneumonia, Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Prevention. 

What is Pneumonia? 

Pneumonia is an infection that effects one or both lungs. It cause air sacs, alveoli of the lungs filled with pus or fluid. Bacteria, viruses and fungi can cause Pneumonia

Pneumonia can be a very dangerous condition because it directly effects the breathing of the patient. They feel extreme difficulty in breathing and feel pressure on their lungs. 

Pneumonia can be fatal because its symptoms and effects can be deadly. It can lead to many other associated disordered like breathing problems. Pneumonia is a danger to mankind and it has taken lives of thousands of people in the past. 

We can treat Pneumonia with medications and rest. And the best way to prevent Pneumonia is getting your vaccines on time. Vaccination helps the patients to prevent worst symptoms of pneumonia so it does not be fatal for those patients. We will discuss Causes, Symptoms, Types, Treatment and Prevention of Pneumonia in this blog.  

Causes of Pneumonia: 

Following are some possible causes of Pneumonia: 

Autoimmunity: 

The main causes of Pneumonia develop when any infection in our lungs by our own immune system. This makes it worst to treat and is acts on a greater level as compared to any common infection. The infection can be any Bacterial, Fungal or Viral infection. So, pneumonia can be as a result of attack through our own immunity.  

Other Common Infections: 

Another possibility of getting Pneumonia is that, any common illness or infections can cause the development of Pneumonia in the patient. We can say that pneumonia can occur as a result of existence of common infections into the body These infections are of different types. Some of them are as follows: 
Common Cold  
Covid-19 
Flu (Influenza) 
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RVS) etc. 
Common infectious diseases like mentioned above, can be transformed into pneumonia in the extreme cases. Usually when the disease effects the lungs specifically. After discussing the causes, we will also proceed towards the symptoms, treatment and prevention of Pneumonia.  

Causes of Pneumonia

Symptoms of Pneumonia: 

The common and basic symptoms of pneumonia are as follows: 

Cough (with greenish and yellowish pus) 
Fever, sweat. 
Shortness of breathe  
Rapid, shallow breathing 
Sharp chest pain 
Loss of appetite  
Low energy  
Confusion or altered mental state 
Tiredness 
Abdominal pain 
Bluish skin, nails and lips etc. 

These are the common symptoms of Pneumonia.  

Types of Pneumonia: 

These are four main types of Pneumonia: 

Hospital Applied pneumonia (HAP): 

You can get Hospital Applied pneumonia (HAP) while in an emergency clinic or medical services office for another disease or technique. HAP is normally more serious than local area gained pneumonia since it’s not unexpected to occur about by anti-infection safe microorganisms, similar to methicillin-safe Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This implies HAP can make you more wiped out and be more diligently to treat. 

Healthcare associated pneumonia (HCAP): 

You can get HCAP while in a drawn out care office, (for example, a nursing home) or short term, long-term visit centers. Like medical clinic procured pneumonia, it’s typically brought about by anti-microbial safe microscopic organisms. 

Ventilator-related pneumonia (VAP): 

In the event that you should be on a respirator or breathing machine to assist you with taking in the medical clinic (normally in the ICU), you’re in danger for ventilator-related pneumonia (VAP). Similar sorts of microorganisms as local area obtained pneumonia, as well as the medication safe sorts that cause clinic procured pneumonia, cause VAP. 

Aspiration pneumonia: 

Aspiration is when strong food, fluids, spit or regurgitation go down your windpipe (windpipe) and into your lungs. On the off chance that you can’t hack these up, your lungs get tainted. This is a serious respiratory condition that can cause severe consequences.  

These are the types of pneumonia.  

Treatment of Pneumonia: 

Pneumonia is a treatable and curable disease. We can treat Pneumonia by different medicines but its diagnosis is very important for the treatment, because if the problem will be clear its solution will be difficult to be know.

• Oxygen Therapy 

Providing extra oxygen will help you to breath properly and to control the symptoms. We can give Oxygen therapy by providing oxygen to your internal body and specifically lungs through a pipe or oxygen mask. It can be delivered through your nose or your mouth. Oxygen therapy is a suitable way to treat pneumonia.  

• IV Fluids  

IV fluids are those fluids, that cannot be consumed by mouth and they are directly delivered through your vain. These are beneficial when a patient cannot take his or her appetite directly. This treatment helps to avoid dehydration and weakness throughout the treatment and management of pneumonia.  

• Draining of Fluids 

Draining of fluid is the treatment we get excessive fluids from the body of the patient so this procedure can be done by a surgery or by a catheter. This helps in fast recovery and avoid conjunction and other major symptoms of pneumonia.  

All these Treatment types can be used for treating pneumonia.  

Diagnosis of Pneumonia: 

For the diagnosis of pneumonia your healthcare professionals will take the whole history of diseases and infections that were exposed to the patients. And then if there is a chance to get pneumonia, then they prefer one of the few tests that are mentioned below: 
Chest X-ray and CT scan 
Blood Tests  
Sputum tests 
Pulse oximetry  
Arterial Blood Gas Test  
Bronchoscopy 
These tests will help us to diagnose the existence of pneumonia in the lungs of the patient so Tests result will confirm the extent of pneumonia in a patient. 

Medication for Pneumonia: 

Pneumonia can be treated with medication. But the treatment takes time. Types of medication used for pneumonia is mentioned in the list below: 

• Antibiotic medication  

Used when there is a Bacterial infection as the cause of Pneumonia.  

• Antiviral medication 

Used when there is a Viral infection as the cause of Pneumonia.  

• Antifungal medication 

Used when there is a fungal infection as the cause of Pneumonia. 

We can use these medicines according to type and extent of pneumonia.  

Prevention from Pneumonia: 

Pneumonia can be prevented by not avoiding common symptoms related to common infectious diseases. We should diagnose the infections before its too late. In this way we can avoid getting pneumonia. Another way to prevent pneumonia is to get vaccination against pneumonia. Following are preventive measures for Pneumonia: 

Quit Smoking: 

If you are a smoker and you start getting minor symptoms of pneumonia, or you are at risk of pneumonia symptoms you should quit smoking right then without wasting you time. Because smoking increases the symptoms of pneumonia.  

Keep your hands Clean: 

You should wash your hands after every single task or meal to avoid getting in contact to viruses and bacteria that can cause infection in your body so by applying this there will be less chance of getting pneumonia.  

Stay away from infected people: 

You should maintain a distance from those who even have a mild and common infection such as flu, Covid-19, or other infections of respiratory system. The infected people can spread these infection with even a short time contact.  

Healthy Diet: 

A healthy diet can help you stay away from infections and diseases so it can make you stronger against diseases and disorders. You should try to eat and drink healthy to avoid such diseases and infections or control the symptoms of such diseases.  

Vaccination for Pneumonia: 

The best way to prevent pneumonia is getting children vaccinated in their early ages. There are three vaccinations for Pneumonia, these are as follows: 
Pneumococcal vaccines (against Bacteria) 
Vaccinations Against Viruses (i.e. Covid-19 vaccine) 
Childhood Vaccinations etc. 
All these vaccines we use in our life commonly. These vaccines directly or indirectly prevent pneumonia by preventing all associated infections. In short, avoiding all common infections will avoid pneumonia from happening. 

Conclusion: 

Pneumonia is a disease that effects one or both the lungs by filling them with pus or fluid so the lungs becomes swelled and there is difficulty in passing of air through lungs. It can cause by any of the common infections such as flu, common cold, Covid-19 etc. We can treat it by antiviral and antifungal medications and vaccines. This is a curable disease but if worst, it can be fatal in some conditions. We should give vaccination the first priority for every child and adult to prevent such diseases. With vaccination, it is also important to keep our diets healthy and nutrition rich, to keep our body strong against such infections. In this way we can fight easily with such infections. We discussed Causes, Symptoms, Types, Treatment and Prevention of Pneumonia in this blog.  

Treatment of Pneumonia

To learn about more topics, click the links below: 

Chest Infections 

Asthma 

Tuberculosis 

Flu 

High Fever 

Seasonal Allergies 

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