What Is Pneumonia?» 5 Facts You Should Know about Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an infection in one or both of your lungs. Many small germs, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, can cause pneumonia. Pneumonia is not a single disease. It can have more than 30 different causes. Understanding the cause of pneumonia is important because pneumonia treatment depends on its cause.
Approximately one-third of the pneumonia cases in the United States each year are caused by respiratory viruses. These viruses are the most common cause of pneumonia in children and young adults.
The flu virus is the most common cause of viral pneumonia in adults. Other viruses that cause pneumonia include respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, herpes simplex virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus, and more.
How Does Pneumonia Affect Your Body?Most of the time, your nose and airways filter germs out of the air you breathe. This keeps your lungs from becoming infected. But germs sometimes find a way to enter the lungs and cause infections. This is more likely to occur when:
- Your immune system is weak.
- A germ is very strong or present in large amounts.
- Your body fails to filter germs out of the air you breathe.
When the germs that cause pneumonia reach your lungs, the lungs' air sacs (alveoli) become inflamed and fill up with fluid. This causes the symptoms of pneumonia, such as a cough, fever, chills, and trouble breathing.
When you have pneumonia, oxygen may have trouble reaching your blood. If there is too little oxygen in your blood, your body cells can't work properly. Because of this and the infection spreading through the body, pneumonia can cause death.
Pneumonia affects your lungs in two ways. It may be in only one part, or lobe, of your lung, which is called lobar pneumonia. Or, it may be widespread with patches throughout both lungs, which is called bronchial pneumonia (or bronchopneumonia).
What Causes Pneumonia?Many different germs can cause pneumonia. There are five main causes of pneumonia:
- Bacteria
- Viruses
- Mycoplasmas
- Other infectious agents, such as fungi—including pneumocystis
- Various chemicals
If you have viral pneumonia, you also are at risk of getting bacterial pneumonia.
What Are the Different Types of Pneumonia?
How Serious Is Pneumonia?
Can Pneumonia Be Prevented?
Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment Of Pneumonia
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What Are the Symptoms of Pneumonia? The most common symptoms of pneumonia are: Cough (with some pneumonias you may cough up greenish or yellow mucus, or even bloody mucus)Fever, which may be mild or highShaking chillsShortness of breath, which may only...
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