Pneumonia

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Pneumonia 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

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Scientists discover influenza's Achilles heel: Antioxidants

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 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 ...


Bacteria co-infections common in swine flu deaths: CDC

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Many people who have died from swine flu in the United States were also infected with other bacteria, including one which can cause pneumonia or meningitis, US health officials said Wednesday.


A Matter of Density, Not Quantity: Individual Bacterial Cells are Capable of Quorum Sensing when Confined in Small Volum

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jul 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 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 ...


Swine flu fears evident as world's cases top 6,000 (AP)

Swine flu fears evident as world's cases top 6,000

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created May 13, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 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 ...


US, Costa Rica swine flu deaths reported (AP)

US, Costa Rica swine flu deaths reported

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created May 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

(AP) -- A Washington state man with underlying heart conditions became the third person infected with swine flu to die in the U.S., health officials said Saturday, while Costa Rica reported the first swine ...


Swine flu worse in Mexico than US, but why?

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Apr 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 21

(AP) -- Why has the swine flu engulfing Mexico been deadly there, but not in the United States?


New generation of salmonella-based, single dose vaccine candidates to fight infant pneumonia

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jan 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

One of the major challenges in modern vaccinology is to engineer vectors that are highly infectious, yet don't cause illness. Trickier still is to ensure that such weapons against infectious disease can be safely disarmed, ...


Steroids aid recovery from pneumonia, researchers say

Steroids aid recovery from pneumonia, researchers say

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 14, 2008 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 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.


Toward a fast, accurate urine test for pneumonia

Fast, accurate urine test for pneumonia possible, study finds

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Doctors may soon be able to quickly and accurately diagnose the cause of pneumonia-like symptoms by examining the chemicals found in a patient's urine, suggests a new study led by UC Davis biochemist Carolyn ...


Amid the flu epidemic, don't forget RSV in young children

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 23, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Influenza, particularly H1N1, has understandably captured the attention of public health officials, the media and the public. However, an analysis from Children's Hospital Boston, based on patients seen in its emergency department ...


FDA reviews update to Pfizer vaccine for kids

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Nov 16, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

(AP) -- Federal health officials on Monday questioned whether to approve an updated version of Pfizer's best-selling anti-infection vaccine for children, despite company studies that failed to meet certain goals.


CDC now says 4,000 swine flu deaths in US

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Federal health officials now say that 4,000 or more Americans likely have died from swine flu - about four times the estimate they've been using.


Scientists Create NICE Solution to Pneumonia Vaccine Testing Problems

Scientists Create NICE Solution to Pneumonia Vaccine Testing Problems

Medicine & Health / Research

created Oct 20, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Medical clinics the world over could benefit from new software* created at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, where a team of scientists has found a way to improve the efficiency ...


Hitting early, swine flu claims 11 more kids in US (AP)

Hitting early, swine flu claims 11 more kids in US

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 17, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- As the swine flu outbreak strikes the U.S. early and hard, health officials note a worrisome number of child deaths and warn that supplies of vaccine will remain scarce for at least the next couple ...


Popular stomach acid reducer triples risk of developing pneumonia

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 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 ...