What it is?  It’s a lung disease involving inflammation  Before the development of antibiotic drugs in the 1940’s, this disease killed 1/3 of its victims. Today, with the proper treatment, most people recover from pneumonia.  This disease still ranks as one of the leading causes of death in the United States.  About 50,000 Americans die from this disease each year.

How do you get it?  Mostly get it from infection, usually from a virus or bacteria. In some cases its by inhaling irritating chemicals

How does it develop?  The droplets spread into the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.  A person gets it by inhaling small droplets that contain harmful viruses or bacteria.  The virus or bacteria normally starts in the nose, mouth, or throat and invades the lungs.  If the body’s immune system is weak then pneumonia will most likely develop.

Who can get infected?  People with major health problems have a higher risk of getting it.  They also have a harder time recovering over the illness  People that get it most are heavy smokers, alcoholics, people with diabetes, cancer, or kidney disease, and people with weaker immune systems

Continued:  Pneumonia is most commonly associated with AIDS which weakens the immune system  Children and elderly people are also at greater risk at getting it.

Symptoms  Chills  High fever  Severe chest pains  Sometimes a dry cough but later produces a rust-colored mucus from the lungs are coughed up

Treatment  Complete bed rest in the hospital  For more serious cases, there is no specific treatment though some people may require antiviral drugs.  Most physicians use antibiotics to treat bacterial pneumonia. They choose the most effective medicine in killing the specific kind of bacteria involved

Prevention  Influenza vaccinations protect against pneumonia caused by influenza viruses.  Another vaccine protects the body from pneumonia caused by pneumococcal.  Doctors recommend it only for elderly people, people with long–term illness, and other people with high risks of catching it.

Is it communicable?  Yes  Pneumonia can spread to one person form another  Usually by coughing, sneezing, any way to spread germs

How long does it last?  Depending on how bad it is.  There are more serious cases than others.  Usually only lasts one or two weeks.

This is what Pneumonia looks like on an X-Ray

Bibliography  article/ htm article/ htm article/ htm  d/article?id=ar435860&st=Bronchial+Pne umonia d/article?id=ar435860&st=Bronchial+Pne umonia d/article?id=ar435860&st=Bronchial+Pne umonia