Pneumonia
hidePneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung. Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar inflammation and abnormal alveolar filling with fluid (consolidation and exudation).
The alveoli are microscopic air-filled sacs in the lungs responsible for absorbing oxygen. Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, including infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be officially described as idiopathic—that is, unknown—when infectious causes have been excluded.
Typical symptoms associated with pneumonia include cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty in breathing. Diagnostic tools include x-rays and examination of the sputum. Treatment depends on the cause of pneumonia; bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics.
Pneumonia is a common illness which occurs in all age groups, and is a leading cause of death among the elderly and people who are chronically and terminally ill. Additionally, it is the leading cause of death in children under five years old worldwide. Vaccines to prevent certain types of pneumonia are available. The prognosis depends on the type of pneumonia, the appropriate treatment, any complications, and the person's underlying health.
For more information about Pneumonia, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with pneumonia
Swine flu worse in Mexico than US, but why?
Apr 26, 2009 |
5 / 5 (9) |
21
(AP) -- Why has the swine flu engulfing Mexico been deadly there, but not in the United States?
Scientists discover influenza's Achilles heel: Antioxidants
Oct 29, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
1
As the nation copes with a shortage of vaccines for H1N1 influenza, a team of Alabama researchers have raised hopes that they have found an Achilles' heel for all strains of the flu—antioxidants. In an article appearing in ...
Pneumococcal vaccine associated with 50 percent lower risk of heart attacks
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 07, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
1
Pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccination was associated with a 50% lower risk of heart attacks 2 years after vaccination, suggests a large hospital-based case-control study published in CMAJ.
There's a life-saving medical device sitting on your sink
Dec 11, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (6) |
0
Hospital-borne infections are a serious risk of a long-term hospital stay, and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), a lung infection that develops in about 15% of all people who are ventilated, is among the most dangerous. ...
Bacterial pneumonia caused most deaths in 1918 influenza pandemic
Aug 19, 2008 |
4 / 5 (6) |
0
The majority of deaths during the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 were not caused by the influenza virus acting alone, report researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the ...
Steroids aid recovery from pneumonia, researchers say
Oct 14, 2008 |
4.2 / 5 (5) |
0
Adding corticosteroids to traditional antimicrobial therapy might help people with pneumonia recover more quickly than with antibiotics alone, UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have found.
Experts: UN program to save children didn't work
Jul 31, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
(AP) -- The U.N. unveiled a multimillion dollar strategy a dozen years ago to save children worldwide, but a new study has found the program had surprisingly little effect in Bangladesh, one of the world's poorest countries.
Mexico says suspected swine flu deaths now at 149
Apr 27, 2009 |
4 / 5 (4) |
0
(AP) -- Mexico canceled school nationwide Monday and warned the death toll from a swine flu epidemic believed to have killed 149 people would keep rising before it can be contained. Health Secretary Jose ...
Stick with simple antibiotics for pneumonia to avoid super bugs, says researcher
Aug 26, 2008 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Australian hospitals should avoid prescribing expensive broad-spectrum antibiotics for pneumonia to avoid the development of more drug-resistant super bugs, according to a University of Melbourne study.
Flu vaccine may not protect seniors well
Aug 01, 2008 |
4.7 / 5 (3) |
0
A Group Health study in the August 2 issue of The Lancet adds fuel to the growing controversy over how well the flu vaccine protects the elderly.
Brothers in arms
Mar 17, 2009 |
4 / 5 (3) |
0
Influenza, or flu, is an unpleasant affair with fever, cough, as well as head and body ache. When this illness is further complicated by a bacterial pneumonia, a harmful super-infection develops. Until now, researchers thought ...
Swine flu fears evident as world's cases top 6,000
May 13, 2009 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
0
(AP) -- In China, mask-wearing police cordoned off more hotels Wednesday, quarantining anyone who came in contact with swine flu patients, no matter how mild their symptoms. Not so in Mexico, where the health ...
A Matter of Density, Not Quantity: Individual Bacterial Cells are Capable of Quorum Sensing when Confined in Small Volum
Jul 10, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Infections of wounds, pneumonia, etc. in hospitals in particular are often caused by bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Once they reach a certain density, colonies of Pseudomonas aeruginosa produce virulence ...
Popular stomach acid reducer triples risk of developing pneumonia
Sep 14, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (2) |
0
A popular stomach-acid reducer used to prevent stress ulcers in critically ill patients needing breathing machine support increases the risk of those patients contracting pneumonia threefold, according to researchers at Wake ...
Pneumococcal vaccine does not appear to protect against pneumonia
Medicine & Health / Medications
Jan 05, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
0
Commonly used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines do not appear to be effective for preventing pneumonia, found a study by a team of researchers from Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
