Pneumonia is an inflammation of your lung tissue that is caused by an infection. The infection may be in one or both of your lungs and it can be caused by bacteria or a virus. Anyone at any age can get pneumonia, but it can be particularly serious and even life threatening in babies, young children, older people and people with other illnesses who may have weakened lungs or immune systems as a result (e.g. people with asthma, cystic fibrosis, HIV or type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes).

Symptoms:

The common symptoms of pneumonia include:

a cough, which can be dry, or may produce thick mucus

fever (a temperature of 38.5°C or higher), sweating and shivering

chest pain

breathing problems (e.g. breathlessness)

feeling generally unwell

loss of appetite.

Your cough may last for 2–3 weeks after your infection has cleared up.

Some people may also experience:

headaches

coughing up blood or blood-stained mucus

nausea

vomiting

muscle and joint pain

tiredness

confusion and disorientation (mainly in older people).

Pneumonia can share some of the symptoms of a cold, acute bronchitis and asthma. If your doctor thinks you have pneumonia, you may need to have a chest X-ray to confirm the diagnosis. Find out more about how pneumonia is diagnosed.

Children and adults who are at increased risk of pneumonia will need antibiotic treatment and possibly hospitalisation as they are more likely to have severe illness and to develop other complications.

Prevention:

There are some very simple things you can do to avoid catching a respiratory tract infection (RTI) or spreading the infection to others if you do have one.

Stay at home if you are unwell: If you have a cold, flu (influenza), pneumonia or any respiratory tract infection (RTI) — see your doctor if necessary and stay at home until you feel better. This helps you to get over the infection faster, and will also mean that you won’t come into contact with others and spread your infection.

Simple ways to stop the spread of infection

Help to prevent the spread of infectious diseases by:

regularly washing your hands with soap and running water, particularly before preparing and eating food and after coughing or blowing your nose

coughing and sneezing into a tissue then throwing it away

covering your mouth when sneezing or coughing

keeping your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth

avoiding sharing cups, glasses and cutlery when eating or drinking

Keeping your household surfaces clean.

Vaccination

There are vaccines available called the pneumococcal vaccines — that can help protect children and adults against the bacteria that cause pneumonia, meningitis and many other serious illnesses (Streptococcus pneumoniae).

Being vaccinated not only protects you from infection (i.e. makes you immune to the disease), but also protects the community as a whole, by reducing the number of people who can catch the infections and pass them on to others. This is called ‘herd immunity’.

Who is the pneumococcal vaccine recommended for?

Vaccination with a pneumococcal vaccine is recommended for adults and children for whom catching pneumonia would be very serious and even life threatening, including:

all adults who are 65 years or older

people with kidney failure

people who have had an organ transplant

people who have had their spleen removed, or who have a spleen that doesn’t function properly

people who are HIV positive

people with certain cancers that affect the immune system (including myeloma, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease)

people with long-term illnesses including type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, alcohol dependence, heart, kidney or lung disease

people who smoke.(Reprint)

Courtesy: AsiaMed Connect in partnership with Apollo Hospitals