Pneumonia is the leading infectious killer of children under the age of five

Photo Credits: Africa Medicare, Daily Health Post

Name
Pneumonia

Transmission

• Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs
• It is a common complication of respiratory infections especially the flu
  • Our lungs have small sacs called alveoli which fill up with air when we breathe
  • With pneumonia, the sacs become filled with pus and fluid, making breathing painful and limiting the body’s ability to take in oxygen
• It can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or fungi and it spreads in several ways:
  • The viruses and bacteria that cause it can infect the lungs when they are inhaled from the environment
  • It can spread from person to person via air-borne droplets from an infected person’s cough or sneeze
  • It may also spread through an infected person’s blood

Geography
Worldwide (most prevalent in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa)

Incubation Period
1 – 3 days depending on the cause

Signs and Symptoms

Common symptoms:

• Cough
• Fever
• Difficulty breathing
• Fast breathing
• Mucus
• Shaking chills
• Sharp chest pain
• Pain when breathing or coughing
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Fatigue
• Confusion (especially in older people)

In infants, symptoms may include:

• Not eating or drinking
• Unconsciousness
• Hypothermia
• Convulsions
• Vomiting

The symptoms of viral and bacterial pneumonia are similar, but can vary slightly:

• Bacterial:
  • High fever
  • Profuse sweating
  • Rapidly increased breathing
  • Rapid pulse
  • Confusion and delirium
  • Blue lips or nailbeds
• Viral:
  • Wheezing
  • Dry cough
  • Headache
  • Muscle pain
  • Weakness
  • Blue lips

Diagnosis

• Doctors cannot always identify the cause of pneumonia
• Common diagnostic methods include chest examination, blood tests, testing a sample of lung fluid (sputum)

Treatment

• Treatment depends on the type and severity of the infection
• If the cause is bacteria, it can be treated with antibiotics
• Cough medicine, pain relievers, and fever reducers are also used to treat symptoms

Prognosis

• Recovery time can vary greatly based on age and health condition, but most people fully recover within 3 months
  • In the elderly or people with other lung problems, recovery may take more than 12 weeks
• If the infection leads to hospitalization, mortality may be as high as 10%, and if intensive care is required it may reach 30–50% (pneumonia is the most common hospital-acquired infection that leads to death)
• Even with treatment some people may experience complications including respiratory failure, blood poisoning, collapsed lung, and kidney complications

Prevention: What Can You Do?

• Wash your hands regularly
• Clean surfaces that many people touch often
• Be careful to cough or sneeze into a tissue or into your sleeve to prevent the bacteria/virus from spreading
• Avoid smoking or inhaling smoke
• Get vaccinated for Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b), pneumococcus, measles and whooping cough (pertussis)

Pneumonia In the News

• Tough action on pneumonia and diarrhoea can save more than one million lives annually
• World Pneumonia Day: Progress But Also 5 Troubling Trends

Sources:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs331/en/
http://www.cdc.gov/pneumonia/index.html