Recognizing Signs of Pneumonia
What is Pneumonia?
Pneumonia is the clinical word for a lung infection. The lungs fill with fluid and make it hard to breath. Pneumonia disproportionately affects the young, the elderly, and the immunocompromised, meaning the people at highest risk are those younger than 2, older than 65, or who suffer from a condition that weakens the immune system1.
Pneumonia is the #1 reason children are hospitalized, and other than giving birth, it’s the #1 reason adults are hospitalized each year1.
Signs and Symptoms of Pneumonia
Both bacterial and viral pneumonia include the following symptoms:
- Fever, chills, sweating
- Sharp, stabbing chest pain that is worse with coughing or a deep breath
- Extreme tiredness, fatigue
- Confused mental state, especially in older people
- Rapid pulse
- Blue tinge to the lips or fingernails
With viral pneumonia, also look for:
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Worsening cough
- Increasing shortness of breath
Treatment for Pneumonia
The treatment for pneumonia varies depending on what type you have. Most cases of pneumonia are treated at home, and severe pneumonia patients are hospitalized for more specialized care. Rossana Embrador NP-C, a PIH Health family medicine nurse practitioner, says that bacterial pneumonia usually responds well to antibiotics, but viral infections do not—they take time to get better on their own.
Whether or not antibiotics are being used, other pneumonia treatments include drinking a lot of fluids, resting, oxygen therapy, pain, and fever medicine, and cough syrup if the cough is bad.
Preventing Pneumonia
Talk to your primary care provider about getting the proper vaccinations to help prevent infections that can lead to pneumonia at any age and ask about the pneumococcal vaccine for age-specific immunization.
Make an appointment with Rossana, or your primary care provider at PIHHealth.org/Appointments
1 American Thoracic Society
