When You Get Pneumoniaare You More Seceptableto Getting It Again

Hillary Clinton contracted pneumonia, and anybody wondered: What did information technology mean? Was this serious or not?

When presidential candidate Hillary Clinton fell prey to pneumonia recently, questions virtually the seriousness and implications of her illness permeated the media. We also wondered if we knew as much about the illness as we thought we did.

We sought answers from Katharine DeGeorge, MD, MS, a UVA family unit medicine dr. voted "All-time General Practitioner" in C-Ville Weekly'southward Best of C-Ville 2015 and 2016, who gave us some insight.

What were your first thoughts when y'all heard Clinton had pneumonia? "Oh dear" or "no big deal"? Or "of course, she's probably wearied"?

No big deal.

Why?

Because pneumonia is adequately common, and the vast majority of otherwise healthy patients volition recover and be able to go well-nigh their business within a few weeks.

What exactly is pneumonia?

Regardless of whether it's a viral or bacterial organism causing the infection, pneumonia occurs when the infectious organisms group together in the lungs along with immune cells that are trying to fight the infection and interfere with normal lung function and tin can block the flow of oxygen.

Sometimes people become the influenza and pneumonia confused – Neb Clinton chosen his married woman's condition the influenza, for case. What's the difference, and which is worse?

Information technology's easy to get them confused. Both are common respiratory illnesses that:

• May crusade fever, cough and excessive fatigue
• Have the potential to crusade serious illness or even death, though well-nigh people fully recover

A simple chest X-ray can help us make the correct diagnosis if we aren't certain later a adept history and physical exam. Making the right diagnosis is of import because it oft affects our handling plans.

Flu vs. Pneumonia

The flu:

• Caused past a virus – then antibiotics won't help
• Infects olfactory organ, throat and lungs
• Symptoms vary but can include fever, chills, coughing, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat, nasal congestion, general fatigue, and even diarrhea or vomiting (mainly in kids) and last nigh 3-7 days
• No shortness of jiff in uncomplicated cases
• More than contagious than pneumonia
• People normally get ameliorate on their own with residual, fluids and over the counter medications
• Can develop into pneumonia in more than serious cases

Pneumonia:

• Most often caused by a bacteria
• Affects the lower respiratory tract and lungs
• Symptoms that distinguish it from the flu include difficulty or pain with breathing and a persistent coughing productive of thick xanthous/green sputum
• Most people need antibiotics to become better
• More 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 arrangement is weak. Lots of perfectly salubrious people get pneumonia.

However, the risk of developing pneumonia is college for people with sure conditions such as:

• Asthma
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
• Diabetes
• Chronic respiratory disease
• Dementia
• Excessive booze apply
• Heart disease
• Smoking
• Stroke

Pneumonia tin besides have serious complications or even be deadly, especially for people who:

• Are very young (0-4 years erstwhile)
• Are age 65 and older
• Have allowed systems weakened by other serious illnesses or medications

In the U.s.a., about 10 pct of people over the age of 65 who are hospitalized for pneumonia will die within 30 days, so this tin exist very serious stuff.

Do symptoms present differently in older people?

They sure can. The typical symptoms of pneumonia can exist more subtle in older people, or they tin can nowadays differently altogether, with the only sign of affliction being weakness, defoliation or collapsing.

Do stress and burnout make it worse?

Stress and burnout can almost definitely lead to worse symptoms or complicating weather, most notably dehydration, in people with pneumonia. Dehydration itself tin lead to weakness and confusion, and tin also crusade low blood pressure level, which again tin lead to weakness, existence unsteady on your feet, and collapse. Information technology sounds trite, but our grandmothers were right when they told us to balance and drink plenty of fluids when we are sick! Our bodies need to conserve equally of free energy they can to fight pneumonia and become on the road to a total recovery.

Is information technology obvious if someone has it? As in, if you were watching Clinton, or a colleague at piece of work, would their symptoms be obvious or not?

Most people with pneumonia volition appear at least a little ill. You might find them:

• Coughing a lot
• Looking flushed or like they are sweating
• Walking more slowly or unsteadily
• Having a hard fourth dimension speaking or walking without having to pause to grab their breath

Some people, however, have mild cases of pneumonia that can get unnoticed altogether or exist mistaken for a simple cold, cough or allergies.

Types of Pneumonia

Some people notice the departure betwixt viral and bacterial pneumonias disruptive. Which is more severe?

Often, just not always, viral pneumonia is less severe than bacterial pneumonia and requires simply balance, fluids and, for some, supplemental oxygen. People with bacterial pneumonia need handling with antibiotics without which there is a much greater risk of a prolonged or more astringent disease grade and complications.

Is there such a thing as 'double' or 'triple' pneumonia? Why is it called walking pneumonia?

Walking pneumonia is a colloquialism that generally refers to a mild instance of pneumonia, often caused by an "atypical" bacterial organism (considering it'southward not the typical agent that causes pneumonia), called Mycoplasma pneumoniae. This mild grade of pneumonia can be then balmy that people don't even know they have information technology, or if they do, the symptoms don't forestall 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 three) lobes of the lungs, and generally indicates a more severe infection that often requires hospitalization.

Triple pneumonia is a lilliputian more complicated. Basically it occurs when a person with pneumonia (often double pneumonia) is treated and clears the original infection, just then gets a subsequent case 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 piece of cake it is to get rid of information technology or end it in its tracks?

When appropriate antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia are started right away, many people with pneumonia can exist back to their normal state of health within a couple weeks, although some volition have a lingering cough or fatigue that can last for a month or more than.

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 handling.

Is there a vaccine?

At that place are two types of pneumonia vaccines available. They protect confronting the most common and aggressive serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae, the organism most often responsible for bacterial pneumonia. Withal, pneumonia tin be acquired by other organisms, including viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic species, so the vaccines practise not foreclose against all forms of pneumonia. Getting pneumonia once doesn't mean you can't become it again.

We recommend these vaccines as part of routine childhood immunizations and for people aged 65 years and older, or those with certain medical problems that increment the risk of pneumonia or its complications. The pneumonia vaccines are merely given a few times during your life, which is unlike than influenza shots, which you should get yearly.

Concerns to Consider

As a dr., what are your main concerns when you lot discover a patient has pneumonia?

The kickoff matter that goes through my caput when seeing a patient with suspected pneumonia is "sick or not sick." Infections like this can lead to a severe systemic response that y'all don't desire to miss called sepsis, which requires prompt action. Vital signs such as body temperature, centre rate, respiratory rate, oxygen level and blood pressure aid determine simply how ill the patient is and whether or non they need to be hospitalized.

Do You Have Pneumonia Symptoms?

Find a family medicine or primary intendance doctor nigh you lot.

Another essential piece of the puzzle is determining if the infection may have been picked up from a hospital or other wellness-care facility similar a nursing habitation. Pathogens that live in these places accept a greater chance of existence antibiotic resistant and crave different handling considerations.

For most people, especially those without other serious medical conditions, a simple form of antibiotics along with rest and fluids will practise, and they'll exist dorsum on their feet in no time.

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Source: https://blog.uvahealth.com/2016/09/28/pneumonia-101-qa/#:~:text=Getting%20pneumonia%20once%20doesn't,of%20pneumonia%20or%20its%20complications.

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