Everything about pneumonia

If you've been diagnosed with pneumonia, it means you've got an infection in your lungs that prevents them from working properly. Pneumonia is a serious illness, and you'll feel very sick. You'll have a fever and a cough. You may also feel like you can't catch your breath.

You're more likely to get pneumonia if you're older than 65 or if you smoke or drink a lot. You're also more likely to get it if you've already got another serious illness that has weakened your body and its natural defenses against infection (your immune system). Children under 2 are also at an increased risk of getting pneumonia.

Pneumonia can be dangerous for older & or already ill people. If you think you have pneumonia,  call your doctor right away. If you get treatment quickly, and if you rest and follow your doctor's advice, you are likely to make a full recovery. If you are older or have another health condition, you may not recover as quickly as someone who is younger or healthier.

Key points for people with pneumonia

• Pneumonia is serious and can sometimes kill. If you think you have it, see your doctor right away.
• Most people with pneumonia can be treated at home. You need to go to the hospital only if you are very sick.
• Antibiotic drugs are the main treatment for pneumonia. The sooner you take them, the better your chance of making a good recovery.
• It's important to be sure that you recover completely. Go to your doctor if any symptoms- fever/ cough, persist.
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• There are vaccines that may protect you against pneumonia. Your doctor will probably recommend getting these if you are at a high risk of getting pneumonia because you are older or in poor health. There is also a special vaccine for children. It should be given to all babies between 2 months old and 23 months old.

What happens when you get pneumonia?

You get pneumonia when harmful germs get past your lungs' defense systems and start to multiply. This causes an infection. The infection causes your lung tissue to get inflamed and produce too much fluid. This clogs your lungs, so they have a hard time working.

Often, the germs are already in your nose and throat. Sometimes they are in tiny drops in the air (for example, after someone sneezes), and you breathe them in. You can get an infection in just one of your lungs or in both of them.

An x-ray showing normal lungs.

An x-ray showing pneumonia.

If an infection gets into your lungs, your lungs become inflamed. This is one of the ways that your body tries to fight an infection. What happens is that special chemicals are released by your body's cells. And this makes more blood flow to the infected area. Along with the blood, infection-fighting parts of the immune system also travel through your body to the site of the infection.

Even though inflammation is one of the ways that your body responds to an infection or an injury, it can cause other problems in your body. In the case of pneumonia, it irritates your airways and makes your lungs heavy and stiff because of the extra blood. This is why you have trouble catching your breath. Also, fluid made by the inflamed tissue builds up in the tiny air sacs at the end of your airways. And this makes it difficult for oxygen to come into your body and for carbon dioxide to leave.

Meanwhile, your immune system responds to the infection that has gotten into your lungs. For example, cells in your blood (called white blood cells) are an important part of your body's defense system. If you have an infection, the white blood cells travel to that area, where they surround the invading germs and destroy them.

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