Pneumonia has been common disease throughout human history the word is from Greek word ”pneumon” meaning lung. The symptoms were described by Hippocrates 460BC-370BC.
Prof. Edwin Webb was the first to observe bacteria in the airways of persons having died of pneumonia in 1875. Initial work identifying the two common bacterial causes, streptococcus pneumoniae and klebsiella pneumoniae, was performed by Carl Friedlander and Albert Frankel in 1882 and 1884 respectively.
Fried lander initial work introduced the Gram stain, a fundamental laboratory test still in use today to identify and categorize bacteria. One study estimated that nearly 4 million children died each year of acute respiratory infections in the period from 1980 to 1990. Because of this the World Health Organisation(WHO) set up the Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) to further study the incidence of childhood pneumonia.
CHERG performed systematic reviews to compile pneumonia statistics in children under the age 5 for year 2000. We have bacterial, viral mycoploma and fungal pneumonia.
• There are certain predisposing or risk factors associated with pneumonia which include people.
• Who are aged under 5 years or over 65 year
• Who smoke tobacco, consume large amounts of alcohol or both, and have underlying condition such as cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), asthma or conditions that affect the kidneys heart or liver.
• People who have a weakened or impaired immune system due, for example to AIDS, HIV or Cancer.
• People who take medicine for gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• People who have recently recovered from a cold or influenza.
• People who experienced malnutrition.
• People who have been recently hospitalised in an intensive care unit.
• People who have been exposed to certain chemical or pollutants
• Some groups are more prone than others to pneumonia.
Pneumonia is the most misunderstood illness in the universe. If you are sitting near a window of a moving vehicle in a cold morning you will hear “please close that window before you give me pneumonia” people usually interchange cold and pneumonia as one and the same thing.
Let us now attempt some definitions: Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that involves the small air sacs (alveoli) and the tissues around them, that is pneumonia is a disease in which large parts of the lungs become inflamed and filled with fluid.
In Nigeria about 2 million people develop pneumonia each year and 40,000 to 70,000 of them die, according to report from university of Jos.
Often pneumonia is the final illness in people who have other serious chronic diseases. In Nigeria as well as other African countries pneumonia is either the leading cause of death or second only to dehydration and severe diarrhoea. Pneumonia isn’t a single illness but many different ones, each caused by a different microscopic organism. Usually, pneumonia starts after organisms are inhaled into the lungs, but sometimes the infection is carried to the lungs by the bloodstream or it migrates to the lungs directly from a nearby infection. Some people are more susceptible to pneumonia than others. Alcoholism, cigarette smoking, diabetes, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease all predispose people to pneumonia. The very young and the very old are also at higher than average risk. So are people whose immune system is suppressed by certain drugs such as those used to treat cancer and those used to prevent the rejection of an organ transplant.
People, who are debilitated, bedridden paralysed, or unconscious, or who have a disease that impairs the immune system; such as AIDS are also at risk. Pneumonia may follow surgery, particularly abdominal surgery or an injury (trauma) particularly a chest injury, because of the resulting shallow breathing, impaired ability to cough and retention of mucus.
Staphylococcus aureus, pneumococci, Hemophilus influenza or a combination of these organisms is often the cause.
Common symptoms of pneumonia are: a cough that produces sputum, chest pain, chills, fever and shortness of breath. These symptoms may vary, however depending on how extensive the disease is and which organism is causing it.
When a person appears to have pneumonia a doctor listens to the chest with a stethoscope to evaluate the condition. Pneumonia usually produces distinctive changes in the way sounds are transmitted, which can be heard with the stethoscope.
In Lobar Pneumonia: the illness begins with chest pain, vomiting and shivering; closely followed by a rapid rise in temperature to 38* to 40* centigrade. Breathing is difficult. A harsh, dry cough brings up rust coloured sputum which may contain blood in untreated cases. The temperature stays high for about a week. It then falls within 24 hours to normal and pulse and breathing become regular.
The patient recovers quickly, but may be fatigued for many weeks. Broncho- pneumonia and other forms have similar symptoms, but do not end suddenly. The temperature tends to fall and rise gradually returning to normal over a number of weeks.
Your treatment will depend on the type of pneumonia you have, how severe it is and your general health. Antibiotic, antiviral and anti-fungal drugs are used to treat pneumonia depending on the specific cause of the condition.
Most cases of bacterial pneumonia can be treated at home, with oral antibiotics and most people respond to the antibiotics in one to three days. Some analgesics like paracetamol,, ibuprofen acetaminophen could be used to relieve pain.
Your doctor may also recommend cough medicine to calm your cough so that you can rest, however coughing helps remove fluid from your lungs so you don’t want to eliminate it entirely.
Home treatment can help your recovery and prevent a recurrence by taking your drugs as prescribed, getting a lot of rest, drinking plenty of fluids, not overdoing it by going ‘back to school or work too soon.
Experts recommend immunisation for children and adults.
Children get the pneumococcal vaccine as part of their routine vaccine.
Two different types of pneumococcal vaccines are recommended for people from 65 years and older. If you smoke, or you have a long term health problem, it is a good idea to take a pneumococcal vaccine. It may not keep you from getting pneumonia. But if you do get pneumonia you probably won’t be sick.
Always be medically guided.
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