Pneumonia: Facts you should know

What Is Pneumonia? Pneumonia is an infection or inflammation of the lungs. It can affect just one section of your lungs or section throughout both lungs. When you have pneumonia, air sacs in your lungs fill with pus or other liquid and oxygen has trouble reaching your blood. Pneumonia causes inflammation of one or both lungs in the chest, usually due to infection. It disrupts the normal process of gas exchange, wherein oxygen is taken into the body and the waste product carbon dioxide removed. This leads to the interruption of oxygen supply to the tissues which is potentially fatal. This can occur all Year round, especially during the Harmattan and Rainy months. It can affect People of any age. What Causes Pneumonia? Pneumonia is primarily caused by infections with less common causes including irritants as a result of the activities of virus, bacteria, fungus, mycoplasmas or chemicals. It often follows another illness, such as a cold or the flu. How can Pneumonia be contacted? In many cases, people get pneumonia because they had an illness (such as cold/flu). Once a person's body defenses are weakened by the flu, bacteria can invade the lungs and cause pneumonia. In other cases, bacteria can be passed from person to person causing pneumonia to be an airborne disease. What are the signs/symptoms? The symptoms of pneumonia varies depending on what is causing it, person(s) involved and or location.; but some of these symptoms include: profuse sweating, shortness of breath, shallow breathing, headache, diarrhoea, vomiting etc. Some people need extra oxygen when they have pneumonia and some cases may require hospitalization. Most cases of pneumonia require prescription medications for treatment so you must see a doctor to be diagnosed with and treated for pneumonia. Treatment for Pneumonia? Pneumonia may be treated with antibiotics. Rest, proper diet and adequate fluids are also very important. It could be diagnosed by x-ray. The x-ray is usually repeated a month or two after treatment to be sure the lungs are clear. Some patients at high risk are normally hospitalised. The risk of contracting pneumonia and having serious complications can be greatly reduced by getting a pneumonia shot and a flu shot.