How Do You Have Pneumonia

Can I Prevent Pneumonia

The routine vaccinations that most people receive as kids help prevent certain types of pneumonia and other infections. If you have a chronic illness, such as sickle cell disease, you may have received extra vaccinations and disease-preventing antibiotics to help prevent pneumonia and other infections caused by bacteria.

People should get a pneumococcal vaccination if they have diseases that affect their immune system , are 65 years or older, or are in other high-risk groups. Depending on the bugs that are likely to affect them, these people also may get antibiotics to prevent pneumonia, as well as antiviral medicine to prevent or lessen the effects of viral pneumonia.

Doctors recommend that everyone 6 months and older get an annual flu shot. That’s because someone with the flu could then come down with pneumonia. Call your doctor’s office or check your local health department to see when these vaccines are available.

Because pneumonia is often caused by germs, a good way to prevent it is to keep your distance from anyone you know who has pneumonia or other respiratory infections. Use separate drinking glasses and eating utensils wash your hands often with warm, soapy water and avoid touching used tissues and paper towels.

You also can stay strong and help avoid some of the illnesses that might lead to pneumonia by eating as healthily as possible, getting a minimum of 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, and not smoking.

Who Is At Risk

Anyone of any age can contract pneumonia, but those at a higher risk are:

People 70+ years young People with medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer or a chronic disease affecting the lungs, heart , kidney or liver Tobacco smokers Indigenous Australians Infants aged 12 months and under3

Its important to remember that no matter how healthy and active you are, your risk for getting pneumonia increases with age. This is because our immune system naturally weakens with age, making it harder for our bodies to fight off infections and diseases.

Drink Hot Peppermint Tea

Peppermint can also helpalleviate irritation and expel mucus. Research suggests that it can be an effective decongestant, anti-inflammatory, and painkiller.

If you dont already have peppermint tea, you can pick up loose or bagged teas at your local grocery or online. And if you have fresh peppermint, you can easily make your own tea.

You may wish to deeply inhale the aroma of the peppermint tea while the tea is steeping. This might help clear your nasal pathways.

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How Do You Get Pneumonia

Have you ever been told to bundle up to avoid catching pneumonia? Or told a friend or family member not to walk outside with wet hair because he or she could get it? It might surprise you to find out that neither cold weather nor wet hair can cause you to catch pneumonia. In fact, pneumonia in itself isnt contagious, so you cant really catch it at all.

If you are wondering how do you get pneumonia, or have any other questions about this condition, FastMed can help. We are open 365 days a year to provide treatment for non-life-threatening illness and injuries, as well as ready to answer all of your health related questions.

Persons With Inadequate Immunization Records

Children and adults lacking adequate documentation of immunization should be considered unimmunized and should be started on an immunization schedule appropriate for their age and risk factors. Pneumococcal vaccines may be given, regardless of possible previous receipt of the vaccines, as adverse events associated with repeated immunization have not been demonstrated. Refer to Immunization of Persons with Inadequate Immunization Records in Part 3 for additional information about vaccination of people with inadequate immunization records.

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How Can I Help Pneumonia Cough

First of all, it is important to understand that coughing helps end pneumonia faster. It is important to keep coughing and clearing your airway, especially in the first few days of pneumonia.

Instead of trying to suppress the cough, it is better to try to make your cough more effective so that your airway clears faster. When your airway starts to clear up, your cough will naturally get better.

Most people can simply cough to get rid of phlegm. Others may benefit from learning simple techniques to help make their cough more effective. One such technique is called forced expiratory technique, or FET, also known as huff cough.

Here are the steps:

Too many coughs can be stressful, and may cause some problems in some people. It is understandable that people want to reduce their cough under certain situations. Here are some potential but uncommon complications of too many coughs:

Adults At High Risk Of Ipd

Adults with immunocompromising conditions resulting in high risk of IPD, except HSCT, should receive 1 dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine followed at least 8 weeks later by 1 dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine, if not previously received. The dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine should be administered at least 1 year after any previous dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine. Refer to Immunocompromised persons for information about immunization of HSCT recipients.

Immunocompetent adults with conditions or lifestyle factors resulting in high risk of IPD should receive 1 dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine, if not previously received. One dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine is also recommended for all adults who are residents of long-term care facilities and should be considered for individuals who use illicit drugs.

Some experts also suggest a dose of Pneu-C-13 vaccine, followed by Pneu-P-23 vaccine, for immunocompetent adults with conditions resulting in high risk of IPD as this may theoretically improve antibody response and immunologic memory. However, Pneu-P-23 vaccine is the vaccine of choice for these individuals, and if only one vaccine can be provided, it should be Pneu-P-23 vaccine, because of the greater number of serotypes included in the vaccine.

Adults at highest risk of IPD should also receive 1 booster dose of Pneu-P-23 vaccine refer to Booster doses and re-immunization.

Table 4 provides recommended schedules for adult immunization with pneumococcal vaccines.

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Pneumonia Vs Cold And Flu Symptoms

Itâs tricky, because pneumonia can be a complication of colds and flu. This happens when the germs that cause those common illnesses get into your lungs. You might be feeling better, but then you start getting symptoms again — and this time, they can be a lot worse.

Cold symptoms tend to start slowly. Youâre more likely to sneeze and have a runny nose and sore throat than with either the flu or pneumonia. Colds donât usually cause a fever in adults.

The top clue that you have the flu is that the symptoms come on strong, seemingly out of nowhere. You may have:

• Fever above 100.4 F

How Long Does Pneumonia Last

Pneumonia recovery time depends on the severity, the type of pneumonia and the individual.

It is also important to note that even after pneumonia is gone, your bodys still working to get back to normal. This means you may feel tired as your energy is used to strengthen your immune system. You will also have a cough for several weeks to clear your lungs of remaining mucus.

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How To Sleep With Pneumonia

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How Do The Lungs Work

Your lungs main job is to get oxygen into your blood and remove carbon dioxide. This happens during breathing. You breathe 12 to 20 times per minute when you are not sick. When you breathe in, air travels down the back of your throat and passes through your voice box and into your windpipe . Your trachea splits into two air passages . One bronchial tube leads to the left lung, the other to the right lung. For the lungs to perform their best, the airways need to be open as you breathe in and out. Swelling and mucus can make it harder to move air through the airways, making it harder to breathe. This leads to shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and feeling more tired than normal.

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More Severe Cases May Also Cause:

• quick breathing
• rapid heartbeat
• nausea and vomiting

Some people get a sharp pain in their chest when they breathe in and out. This may be because the thin lining between the lung and ribcage, called the pleura, is infected and inflamed. This inflammation, called pleurisy, stops your lungs moving smoothly as you breathe.

The symptoms of pneumonia are often very similar to those of other chest infections, such as bronchitis, COPD flare-ups or bronchiectasis flare-ups. To get a proper diagnosis youll need to visit your GP.

If you feel unwell with these symptoms, see your GP or call 111. If you have chest pain, a rapid heartbeat, quick breathing, shivers or confusion, get urgent advice from your GP or call 999. Take extra care if youre over 65.

Follow Your Treatment Plan

It is important that you take all your medicines as your doctor prescribes. If you are using antibiotics, continue to take the medicine until it is all gone. You may start to feel better before you finish the medicine, but you should continue to take it. If you stop too soon, the bacterial infection and your pneumonia may come back. It may also become resistant to the antibiotic, making treatment more difficult.

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Take Steps To Help Your Body Recover

The following steps can help your body recover from pneumonia.

• Choose heart-healthy foods, because good nutrition helps your body recover.
• Drink plenty of fluids to help you stay hydrated.
• Dont drink alcohol or use illegal drugs. Alcohol and illegal drugs weaken your immune system and can raise the risk of complications from pneumonia.
• Dont smoke and avoid secondhand smoke. Breathing in smoke can worsen your pneumonia. Visit Smoking and Your Heart and Your Guide to a Healthy Heart. For free help quitting smoking, you may call the National Cancer Institutes Smoking Quitline at 1-877-44U-QUIT .
• Get plenty of sleep. Good quality sleep can help your body rest and improve the response of your immune system. For more information on sleep, visit our How Sleep Works health topic.
• Get light physical activity. Moving around can help you regain your strength and improve your recovery. However, you may still feel short of breath, and activity that is too strenuous may make you dizzy. Talk to your doctor about how much activity is right for you.
• Sit upright to help you feel more comfortable and breathe more easily.
• Take a couple of deep breaths several times a day.

How Is Pneumonia Diagnosed

Sometimes pneumonia can be hard to diagnose. This is because it can cause some of the same symptoms as a cold or the flu. It may take time for you to realize that you have a more serious condition.

Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
• A physical exam, including listening to your lungs with a stethoscope
• Various tests, such as
• A chest x-ray
• Blood tests such as a complete blood count to see if your immune system is actively fighting an infection
• A Blood culture to find out whether you have a bacterial infection that has spread to your bloodstream

If you are in the hospital, have serious symptoms, are older, or have other health problems, you may also have more tests, such as:

• Sputum test, which checks for bacteria in a sample of your sputum or phlegm .
• Chest CT scan to see how much of your lungs is affected. It may also show if you have complications such as lung abscesses or pleural effusions.
• Pleural fluid culture, which checks for bacteria in a fluid sample that was taken from the pleural space
• Pulse oximetry or blood oxygen level test, to check how much oxygen is in your blood
• Bronchoscopy, a procedure used to look inside your lungs’ airways

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How To Tell If You Have Walking Pneumonia

February 5, 2019 By Caitlin Hartwyk

Were all familiar with the sense of dread that comes when you realize youre getting a case of the winter sniffles often cold or flu. Although, its thought that over two million Americans actually deal with walking pneumonia each year, and many may not even realize it.

What is Walking Pneumonia?

If youve never heard of walking pneumonia, youre not alone. The disease goes unheard of for many, despite affecting 2 million people in the United States every year.

Walking, or atypical, pneumonia is a lung infection caused by a different bacteria than the regular disease. The CDC states it, might have slightly different symptoms, appear different on a chest X-ray, or respond to different antibiotics than the typical bacteria that cause pneumonia.

For example, antibiotics are required and routinely prescribed to treat pneumonia. But, the M. pneumoniae bacteria is resistant to the same medicine. Beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin cannot be used to treat M. pneumoniae. This is part of the growing, worrying trend of AMR, or antimicrobial resistance.

Even when it comes to atypical pneumonia, there are several different types. Atypical pneumonia could come in the form of Mycoplasma pneumonia, Legionnaires disease, Chlamydophila pneumonia and psittacosis. Mycoplasma pneumonia is by far the most common variety of walking pneumonia.

How Do I Know if I Have Walking Pneumonia?

Who is Most Often Affected by Atypical Pneumonia?

About Us

Is Pneumonia Treated Any Differently In Children

Essentially no. Just like adults, bacterial causes of pneumonia in children may be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are not used to treat pneumonia caused by viruses. Flu-related pneumonia may be treated with antiviral medicine if caught early in the course of illness. Most cases of pneumonia are treated with comfort care measures that ease symptoms. These may include:

• Drinking more fluids.
• Getting more rest.
• Taking over-the-counter medicines for cough and acetaminophen for fever. Be sure to check with your healthcare provider or pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns about giving medicines to your child.
• Using a cool mist humidifier in your childs room.

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Know The Facts About The Pneumonia Vaccine

Just as with a flu shot, and now the COVID-19 vaccines, some people believe that getting a pneumococcal vaccine will cause them to come down with the disease or experience long-term side effects.

This is absolutely not true, Dr. Suri says.

Not only will the pneumococcal vaccine help reduce the risk of contracting certain types of bacterial pneumonia, it also guards against serious consequences resulting from the flu and severe infections, such as .

For young children, older adults, smokers and those with other risk factors, the vaccine is a healthy choice to make.

I cant see any reason to avoid this vaccine and every reason to get it, she says.

How Is Pneumonia Spread From Person To Person

Pneumonia is spread when droplets of fluid containing the pneumonia bacteria or virus are launched in the air when someone coughs or sneezes and then inhaled by others. You can also get pneumonia from touching an object previously touched by the person with pneumonia or touching a tissue used by the infected person and then touching your mouth or nose.

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Can Pneumonia Be Prevented Or Avoided

There are many factors that can raise your risk for developing pneumonia. These include:

People who have any of the following conditions are also at increased risk:

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• asthma
• sickle cell disease

You can help prevent pneumonia by doing the following:

• Get the flu vaccine each year. People can develop bacterial pneumonia after a case of the flu. You can reduce this risk by getting the yearly flu shot.
• Get the pneumococcal vaccine. This helps prevent pneumonia caused by pneumococcal bacteria.
• Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Dont smoke. Smoking damages your lungs and makes it harder for your body to defend itself from germs and disease. If you smoke, talk to your family doctor about quitting as soon as possible.
• Practice a healthy lifestyle. Eat a balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables. Exercise regularly. Get plenty of sleep. These things help your immune system stay strong.
• Avoid sick people. Being around people who are sick increases your risk of catching what they have.

When To Get The Vaccine

Thereâs no such thing as pneumonia season, like flu season. If you and your doctor decide that you need to have a pneumonia vaccine, you can get it done at any time of the year. If itâs flu season, you can even get a pneumonia vaccine at the same time that you get a flu vaccine, as long as you receive each shot in a different arm.

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