Overview:
Pneumonia has been perceived as a typical and potentially deadly condition for almost two centuries. These days the mortality rate due to pneumonia is increasing like never before. What is your opinion about this world’s deadliest disease?
Pneumonia is the 6th driving reason for death in the United States and the most widely recognized reason for death because of infectious disease.
What Is Pneumonia?
Pneumonia is acute inflammation and infection-induced lung disease that can be mild or severe enough to require hospitalization. Diagnostic criteria include a chest x-ray and clinical symptoms. A patient’s prognosis varies depending on whether the infection is caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, mycobacterium, or parasites, whether it is acquired in the community or hospital, treated with mechanical ventilation, and whether the patient is immunocompetent or immune-compromised.
- Influenza viral pneumonia is caused by influenza viruses type A and periodically type B resulting in seasonal community-acquired pneumonia.
How do you get pneumonia?
I’m going to elaborate on how you catch pneumonia in detail. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the pervasiveness of this infectious disease. It spreads through coughing, sneezing, talking, and breathing. These tiny airborne droplets contain germs and cause pneumonia among people.
This contagious infection causes the alveoli (air sacs) in your lungs to fill with fluid or pus. That can make it difficult to get enough oxygen into your bloodstream.
This lung infection is contagious and spread by contact with other people. Infants under the age of two and seniors over the age of 65 are at higher risk of danger. It might be possible that their immune systems aren’t strong enough to combat this infectious disease.
Pneumonia may be hospital-acquired, community-acquired (most common), and aspiration pneumonia. If you see any symptoms of pneumonia, then you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Moreover, according to research, the outbreak of SARS-COV-2 in Wuhan in December 2019, resulted in pandemic acute respiratory syndrome. The virus transmitted humans to humans which caused the catastrophe and increased the mortality rate in China and other countries.
In the pre-antibiotic period, a comprehensive investigation of the diseases demonstrated a mortality rate of around one (1) per thousand (1000) per year. It had been reported that over 80% of the mortality rate cases were caused by Streptococcus pneumonia ranging from 20-40%.
What Are the Symptoms of Pneumonia?
The sooner you clinically diagnose pneumonia, the better it is for your health. Fever with respiratory symptoms, i.e., cough, dyspnea, septum production, Especially with small children, nausea, and vomiting, are common, and pleurisy is one of the symptoms of pneumonia.
- Acute bronchitis, a range of noninfectious diseases and bronchitis might show similar symptoms.
- In 80 % of patients, fever is the most common symptom.
The ugly truth about the causes of pneumonia is revealed.
To my mind, the most common causes of pneumonia are bacteria (Streptococcus), bacteria-like organisms such as mycoplasma, RSV(Respiratory syncytial)virus, flu viruses, cold viruses, and COVID-19.
- Pneumonia caused by a bacteria-like organism such as mycoplasma usually shows milder symptoms.
- Viral pneumonia is usually mild but it can become quite serious if not treated properly.
Furthermore, according to current research, pneumonia caused by COVID-19 can progress to a life-threatening level.
What is walking Pneumonia?
The term “Walking pneumonia” refers to a non-medical phrase for mild pneumonia. Another name of walking pneumonia is atypical pneumonia which is mostly caused by the bacterium Mycoplasma or viruses. Generally, no bed rest or hospitalization is required, and the symptoms are moderate enough that you can proceed with your everyday activities. That’s why the term “Walking” is used for atypical pneumonia.
Important note:
- If you see any of the symptoms of pneumonia, you should seek medical attention and visit a doctor as soon as possible.
- You should take a rest, drink a lot of fluids, take medicine to lower your fever if you have one.
Is pneumonia contagious?
The pneumonia is contagious and spread by contact with other people. As I have described earlier, the transmission sources of pneumonia are coughing, sneezing, breathing, and talking. However, the process of lung infection is slow. Those who have pneumonia can spread it to others for up to 10 days.
The outbreak of this infectious disease on a large scale occurs every 4-8 years on average. It is believed that walking pneumonia is spread when healthy individuals come close in contact with an infected person.
Conclusion:
So, in the bottom line, I must say that pneumonia is the 6th driving reason for death in the United States and the most widely recognized reason for death because of infectious disease. There are a variety of factors that contribute to the pervasiveness of this infectious disease. It spreads through coughing, sneezing, talking, and breathing.
The sooner you clinically diagnose pneumonia, the better it is for your health. Fever with respiratory symptoms, i.e., cough, dyspnea, septum production, and pleurisy, is one of the symptoms of pneumonia. I would like to add the last point, that if you see any of the symptoms of pneumonia, you should seek medical attention and visit a doctor as soon as possible.
Health and hygiene 