WORLD PNEUMONIA DAY: 10 things you should know about Pneumonia...

Its yet another November 12th, Oh Yes! Its World Pneumonia Day. A day that provides an annual forum for the world to stand together and demand action in the fight against pneumonia. Hence, i have put together 10 things you need to know about Pneumonia.. Please continue reading..

1. The risk of pneumonia is not the same for everyone.
Anyone can contract pneumonia , but the risk is higher for young children, older adults, people who smoke cigarettes and people with chronic health conditions (like asthma, diabetes and HIV/AIDs).

2. Viruses are usually the culprit .
While bacteria is an important cause, most cases of pneumonia are actually caused by viruses like human rhinovirus , influenza or respiratory synctial virus (RSV). There are also many viruses that we don’t normally associate with pneumonia, like measles and chickenpox, that can be causative, as well as fungi and chemical exposures. Unfortunately, the only way to really know the cause of a pneumonia is to get a direct sputum sample, which is difficult.

3. The symptoms of pneumonia are not always fever, cough and shortness of breath.
Pneumonia can also cause chest pain, mimicking a heart condition, and it can cause people to cough up blood, mimicking other serious problems like a pulmonary embolism or pulmonary edema.

4. Pneumonia spans the age groups and acts differently in each one.
A pneumonia in a two-month old child looks very different than a pneumonia in a 16-year old. In fact, many times the only sign of pneumonia in an infant is an increased respiratory rate. Teenagers can often get a "walking pneumonia " that is generally mild enough that they may not even present to a doctor's office. For older adults, the only symptom of pneumonia may be fatigue or confusion.

5. This illness can normally be diagnosed based on history and physical exam alone.
With a good enough story, abnormal vital signs, or abnormal breath sounds, a clinician may be able to tell that you have pneumonia without doing any testingatall. However, a chest x-ray, blood work, and possibly a sputum sample or a nasal swab can help narrow in on the diagnosis and the specific cause.

6. Pneumonia is not always contracted by person-to-person spread.
It is true that it is most transmissible via decreased hand washing practices and close contact with someone who is coughing or sneezing — and thereby spreading his or her respiratory infection. However, pneumonia can also be contracted through aspiration (accidentally getting food or liquid into the respiratory tract), or through faulty cooling systems (like the recent Legionnaire's outbreak).

7. Contracting pneumonia in the hospital is different than contracting it during daily life.
In fact, when diagnosing a patient with pneumonia, clinicians have to specify whether it was acquired in the community (community-acquired pneumonia or CAP) or in a healthcare setting (hospital-acquired pneumonia or HAP). This is because the distinction drastically changes the potential bugs causing the infection and therefore also changes the treatment methods.

8. Vaccines can help prevent the contraction of pneumonia.
In fact, the CDC recommends that every person age 65 and older get vaccinated against pneumonia . People in this age group should should receive two pneumococcal vaccines to help protect against the most common cause of bacterial pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumoniae . Children under age five automatically receive four doses of the pneumococcal (Prevnar) vaccine as part of the normal vaccination schedule. Getting a yearly influenza vaccine can also help prevent one of the most common causes of viral pneumonia.

9. Pneumonia can be prevented in certain situations by using an incentive spirometer.
Clinicians worry about pneumonia development when patients are in situations that limit their ability to breathe deeply due to pain or positioning, like during recovery from surgery or rib fractures. It may be more comfortable to breath shallowly, but this predisposes the lungs to infection. For this reason, clinicians prescribe incentive spirometers to encourage patients to take frequent deep breaths.

10. Pneumonia is a GLOBAL health problem.
According to the CDC , pneumonia is the LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH younger than age 5 worldwide, killing nearly one million children per year. .

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