What Are The Effects Of Pneumonia

What Are The Complications Of Pneumonia

The lasting effects of pneumococcal meningitis

Most people with pneumonia respond well to treatment, but pneumonia can be very serious and even deadly.

You are more likely to have complications if you are an older adult, a very young child, have a weakened immune system, or have a serious medical problem like diabetes or cirrhosis. Complications may include:

Acute respiratory distress syndrome . This is a severe form of respiratory failure.
Lung abscesses. These are pockets of pus that form inside or around the lung. They may need to be drained with surgery
Respiratory failure. This requires the use of a breathing machine or ventilator.
This is when the infection gets into the blood. It may lead to organ failure.

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Key Points About Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection of one or both of the lungs caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi.
There are more than 30 different causes of pneumonia, and theyre grouped by the cause. The main types of pneumonia are bacterial, viral, and mycoplasma pneumonia.
A cough that produces green, yellow, or bloody mucus is the most common symptom of pneumonia. Other symptoms include fever, shaking chills, shortness of breath, low energy, and extreme tiredness.
Pneumonia can often be diagnosed with a thorough history and physical exam. Tests used to look at the lungs, blood tests, and tests done on the sputum you cough up may also be used.
Treatment depends on the type of pneumonia you have. Antibiotics are used for bacterial pneumonia. It may also speed recovery from mycoplasma pneumonia and some special cases. Most viral pneumonias dont have a specific treatment and just get better on their own. Other treatment may include a healthy diet, more fluids, rest, oxygen therapy, and medicine for pain, cough, and fever control.
Most people with pneumonia respond well to treatment, but pneumonia can cause serious lung and infection problems. It can even be deadly.

Antibiotic Treatments For Community

For a more detailed discussion of the different types of antibiotics, see the “Antibiotic Classes” section below.

Joint guidelines issued in 2019 by the IDSA/ATS recommend that mild CAP in otherwise healthy people be treated with amoxicillin or doxycycline. If the person lives in an area with low S pneumoniae resistance to macrolides, a macrolide antibiotic therapy may also be considered.

The British Thoracic Society recommends amoxicillin, doxycycline, or clarithromycin as alternatives.

Many people with heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or other coexisting conditions may still be treated as outpatients.

People with coexisting conditions should be given a macrolide plus a beta-lactam or a fluoroquinolone as monotherapy. Doxycycline can be given as an alternative to a macrolide. Current recommendations call for at least 5 days of antibiotic therapy. People should have no fever for at least 48 hours and no more than one sign of continuing severe illness before discontinuing antibiotics.

Many cases of CAP are caused by S pneumoniae — Gram-positive bacteria that usually respond to antibiotics known as beta-lactams , and to macrolides. However, resistant strains of S pneumoniae are increasingly common. Most resistant strains respond to fluoroquinolones such as levofloxacin , gemifloxacin , or moxifloxacin .

In addition, other important causes of CAP, particularly in younger people, are atypical bacteria, which respond to macrolides , or newer fluoroquinolones.

Vaccines For Children Program

The Vaccines for Children Program provides vaccines to children whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them. A child is eligible if they are younger than 19 years old and meets one of the following requirements:

Medicaid-eligible
American Indian or Alaska Native
Underinsured

If your child is VFC-eligible, ask if your doctor is a VFC provider. For help in finding a VFC provider near you, contact your state or local health departments VFC Program Coordinator or call CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO .

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Favorite Orgs That Can Help Fight Pneumonia

Those over age 65 have a higher risk of getting pneumonia than younger adults. They may be especially susceptible to community-acquired pneumonia, spread among large populations of elderly people in settings such as assisted living facilities. This organization, devoted to finding the best products and services for seniors, publishes advice on how older adults should handle prevention and care.

Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia. Several national healthcare organizations and the CDC are collaborating in an effort called United Against the Flu to stress the importance of getting immunized. The groups website supplies resources and details on the vaccination.

Characteristics Of Included Cohort And Casecontrol Studies

One caseâcontrol study and 20 cohort studies were included . Six were conducted in Asia, seven each in Europe and North America, and one included people from multiple continents . Twelve cohorts included people with CAP , , , , , , , , , , , ], one with HAP , none with COVID-19 pneumonia, one with AP , , ], three with HCAP or NHCAP , , ], five described âpneumoniaâ only, or included mixed types of pneumonias , , , ]. One of these cohorts published data on two sub-cohorts, one of people with CAP, the other with pneumonia and chronic kidney disease .

Thirteen studies reported medium-term mortality, four longer term mortality, and one each cardiovascular events, readmission, bacteraemia, eating orally, and a composite outcome, poor prognosis. The proportion of participants experiencing medium-term mortality varied from 3% to 83% .

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In Older Adults And Children

Older adults may have different, fewer, or milder symptoms, such as having no fever or having a cough with no mucus . The major sign of pneumonia in older adults may be a change in how clearly they think or when a lung disease they already have gets worse.

In children, symptoms may depend on age:

In infants younger than 1 month of age, symptoms may include having little or no energy , feeding poorly, grunting, or having a fever.
In children, symptoms of pneumonia are often the same as in adults. Your doctor will look for signs such as a cough and a faster breathing rate.

Some conditions with symptoms similar to pneumonia include bronchitis, COPD, and tuberculosis.

What To Do If Your Child Is Unwell After The Vaccine

There’s a new pneumonia vaccine for adults

Its possible that your child may feel unwell after receiving a dose of the pneumococcal vaccine. Should this happen, there are ways to help ease their symptoms.

If your child has a fever, try to keep them cool. You can do this by providing cool liquids for them to drink and ensuring theyre not wearing too many layers.

Tenderness, redness or discoloration, and swelling at the site of the shot can be eased by applying a cool compress. To do this, wet a clean washcloth with cool water and place it gently on the affected area.

Symptoms like fever and pain at the site of the shot may be alleviated using over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen or ibuprofen . Be sure to use the infant formulation and to carefully follow the dosing instructions on the product packaging.

Prior to being approved for use, the safety and effectiveness of all vaccines must be rigorously evaluated in clinical trials. Lets take a look at some of the research into the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccines.

A evaluated the effectiveness of the PCV13 vaccine in children. It found that:

The vaccine effectiveness of PCV13 against the 13 pneumococcal strains included in the vaccine was 86 percent.
The vaccine effectiveness against pneumococcal disease due to any strain of S.pneumoniae was 60.2 percent.
The effectiveness of PCV13 didnt differ significantly between children with and without underlying health conditions.

The CDC also notes that more than

You shouldnt get the PCV13 vaccine if youre:

What Are The Symptoms Of Pneumonia

The symptoms of bacterial pneumonia include:

Bluish color to lips and fingernails
Confused mental state or delirium, especially in older people
Cough that produces green, yellow, or bloody mucus
Fever

Mycoplasma pneumonia has somewhat different symptoms, which include a severe cough that may produce mucus.

Why Does It Take So Long To Recover From Pneumonia

You can’t see the damage pneumonia causes, but you certainly feel it.

The air sacs in your lungs become inflamed during pneumonia, leading to soreness and pain. If the infection and inflammation progress, your lungs may fill with fluid and dead lung tissue, leading to the green, yellow or even bloody mucus you cough up. This fluid may also affect how well oxygen is able to transfer into your bloodstream, leading to difficulty breathing.

“Once the infection is cleared with treatment, your body still has to deal with removing all of the fluid, damage and debris left behind in your lungs. This can take a few weeks, resulting in a lingering cough and reduced lung capacity,” explains Dr. Lee. “During this time, you may find physical exertion more tiring than usual.”

A more severe case of pneumonia can cause even more damage to your lungs, which can be significant and even permanent in some cases.

“After severe pneumonia, lung capacity is reduced and muscles may be weak from being so ill. Significant weight loss can further contribute to weakness and other health conditions may be aggravated due to the stress placed on the body during illness. These are all things your body will need time to recover from,” says Dr. Lee.

In fact, it may take another several months for you to fully heal and regain strength.

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Pneumonia Kills More Children Than Any Other Infectious Disease

Many people associate pneumonia with the elderly, but it is actually the biggest infectious killer of children worldwide. It claims the lives of over 800,000 children under five every year, including over 153,000 newborns, who are particularly vulnerable to infection. That means a child dies from pneumonia every 39 seconds and almost all of these deaths are preventable.

A child dies from pneumonia every 39 seconds. Almost all of these deaths are preventable

What causes pneumonia?

Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection of the lungs. It doesnt have one single cause it can develop from either bacteria, viruses or fungi in the air. When a child is infected, his lungs are filled with fluid and it becomes difficult to breathe. Children whose immune systems are immature or weakened such as by undernourishment, or diseases like HIV are more vulnerable to pneumonia.

What are the symptoms of pneumonia?

As pneumonia is an infection of the lungs, the most common symptoms are coughing, trouble breathing and fever. Children with pneumonia usually experience fast breathing, or their lower chest may draw in or retract when they inhale .

Is pneumonia contagious?

Pneumonia is contagious and can be spread through airborne particles . It can also be spread through other fluids, like blood during childbirth, or from contaminated surfaces.

How is pneumonia diagnosed in children?

What is the treatment for pneumonia?

Can pneumonia be prevented?

Is there a pneumonia vaccine?

What Are The Risk Factors

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Anyone can get pneumonia, but many factors can increase your chances of getting sick and having a more severe illness. One of the most important factors is your age. People age 65 and over are at increased risk because their immune system is becoming less able to fight off infection as years go by. Infants and children two years of age or younger are also at increased risk because their immune systems are not yet fully developed.

Other risk factors can be grouped into three main categories: medical conditions, health behaviors, and environment.

Medical conditions

Chronic lung diseases such as COPD, bronchiectasis, or cystic fibrosis that make the lungs more vulnerable.
Other serious chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes and sickle cell disease.
A weakened immune system due to HIV/AIDs, an organ transplant, chemotherapy or long-term steroid use.
Difficulty swallowing, due to stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, or other neurological conditions, which can result in aspiration of food, vomit or saliva into the lungs that then becomes infected.
Recent viral respiratory infectiona cold, laryngitis, influenza, etc.
Hospitalization, especially when in intensive care and using a ventilator to breathe.

Health behaviors

Cigarette smoking, which damages the lungs.
Drug and alcohol abuse, which increase the risk of aspiration pneumonia.

Environment

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How To Regain Your Strength After Pneumonia

While recovering from mild pneumonia, be sure to:

Eat a well-balanced diet
Slowly work back into your exercise routine

“Physical activity can help your lungs regain strength but go slow. Start with light exercise and stop if your cough worsens or you have trouble breathing. If a light workout feels okay, you can put a little more effort into your next workout,” says Dr. Lee.

However, Dr. Lee’s advice for someone recovering from severe pneumonia looks quite different.

“The first thing to realize is that your body may be extremely weak after being discharged from the hospital, so you’ll need to take extra care leaning on your support network, if possible,” says Dr. Lee.

What To Think About

In most cases pneumonia is a short-term, treatable illness. But frequent bouts of pneumonia can be a serious complication of a long-term illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease . If you have a severe long-term illness, it may be hard to treat your pneumonia, or you may choose not to treat it. You and your doctor should discuss this. This discussion may include information about how to create an advance care plan.

For more information, see:

There are a number of steps you can take to help prevent getting pneumonia.

Stop smoking. You’re more likely to get pneumonia if you smoke.
Avoid people who have infections that sometimes lead to pneumonia.
Stay away from people who have colds, the flu, or other respiratory tract infections.
If you haven’t had measles or chickenpox or if you didn’t get vaccines against these diseases, avoid people who have them.

Wash your hands often. This helps prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria that may cause pneumonia.

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How Can I Help Myself Feel Better

If your doctor has prescribed medicine, follow the directions carefully.

You may feel better in a room with a humidifier, which increases the moisture in the air and soothes irritated lungs. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids, especially if you have a fever. If you have a fever and feel uncomfortable, ask the doctor whether you can take over-the-counter medicine such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring it down. But don’t take any medicine without checking first with your doctor a cough suppressant, for example, may not allow your lungs to clear themselves of mucus.

And finally, be sure to rest. This is a good time to sleep, watch TV, read, and lay low. If you treat your body right, it will repair itself and you’ll be back to normal in no time.

How Long Does It Last

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It takes a certain amount of time to start to feel sick after getting exposed to a germ. This length of time is called the incubation period, and it depends on many things, especially which bug is causing the illness.

With influenza pneumonia, for example, someone may become sick as soon as 12 hours or as long as 3 days after exposure to the flu virus. But with walking pneumonia, a person may not feel it until 2 to 3 weeks after becoming infected.

Most types of pneumonia clear up within a week or two, although a cough can linger for several weeks more. In severe cases, it may take longer to completely recover.

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Defining Pneumonia By Origin Of Infection

Health care providers often classify pneumonia based on where the disease is contracted. This helps predict which organisms are most likely responsible for the illness and, therefore, which treatment is most likely to be effective.

Community-Acquired Pneumonia

People with this type of pneumonia contracted the infection outside of a hospital setting. It is one of the most common infectious diseases. It often follows a viral respiratory infection, such as the flu.

One of the most common causes of bacterial CAP is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Other causes include Haemophilus influenza , Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Chlamydia pneumoniae .

Disease Process Leading To Pneumonia

Pneumonia-causing agents reach the lungs through different routes:

In most cases, a person breathes in the infectious organism, which then travels through the airways to the lungs.
Sometimes, the normally harmless bacteria in the mouth, or on items placed in the mouth or swallowed, can enter the lungs. This usually happens if the body’s “gag reflex,” an extreme throat contraction that keeps substances out of the lungs, is not working properly.
Infections can spread through the bloodstream from other organs to the lungs.

However, in normal situations, the airways protect the lungs from substances that can cause infection.

The nose filters out large particles.
If smaller particles pass through, nerves along the airway prompt a cough or sneeze. This forces many particles back out of the body.
Tiny particles that reach the small tubes in the lungs are trapped in a thick, sticky substance called mucus. The mucus and particles are pushed up and out of the lungs by tiny hair-like cells called cilia, which beat like a drum. This action is called the “mucociliary escalator.”
If bacteria or other infectious organisms manage to avoid the airway’s defenses, the body’s immune system attacks them. Large white blood cells called macrophages destroy the foreign particles.

The above-mentioned defense systems normally keep the lungs healthy. If these defenses are weakened or damaged, however, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites can easily infect the lungs, producing pneumonia.