Corticosteroids Linked to Pneumonia Ivanhoe, FL - (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Inhaling corticosteroids to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may cause pneumonia, a new study shows. ...
Three times a day keeps pneumonia away Israel 21C, CA - By Karin Kloosterman It happens far more than people might realize: ventilator-associated pneumonia, or VAP for short, is a leading hospital-borne infection ...
ND's Harangody out indefinitely with pneumonia Munster Times, IN - Nov 29, 2008 Notre Dame forward and Andrean grad Luke Harangody is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with pneumonia and no timetable has been set for his return. ...
Statins May Lower Odds of Pneumonia Death New York Times, United States - Nov 24, 2008 Scientists examined medical records of 29000 Danish patients hospitalized for pneumonia over a six-year period. Using regional prescription databases, ...
Global AIDS crisis overblown? Some dare to say so The Associated Press - Nov 30, 2008 England argues that closing UNAIDS would free up its $200 million annual budget for other health problems such as pneumonia, which kills more children every ...
We Interrupt This Football Season... Blue and Gold Illustrated (subscription), IN - Nov 30, 2008 1 team in the nation...managed the closest final margin of any UNC opponent thus far...and did so despite the fact that Harangody was PLAYING WITH PNEUMONIA...
Source: Google News
Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: pneumonia + 14,400,000 + 0.13 Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/7/2008)
Spiritualized back; frontman Jason Pierce escapes pneumonia The Canadian Press, LONDON - Aug 1, 2008 LONDON ? Part way through making Spiritualized's latest album, the band's frontman, Jason Pierce, came down with a bout of pneumonia that almost killed him. ...
Flu-vaccinated seniors may not be protected from Pneumonia HealthJockey.com, India - Aug 5, 2008 Researchers from the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle discovered that pneumonia, a common and sometimes fatal complication of the flu could ...
Pneumonia still a risk for flu-vaccinated seniors McKnight's Long Term Care News, NY - Aug 5, 2008 Flu vaccine may not be effective at staving off pneumonia among the very elderly, according to a new report. Conventional wisdom says that if a flu vaccine ...
Tourist dies on Egyptian holiday BBC News, UK - The cause of death of Nicky Millar, 37, from Galashiels, has been given as deep vein thrombosis brought on by pneumonia. Her family said her grandfather had ...
Egyptian holiday death of Dalkeith office worker MidLothian Today, UK - Nicky Millar's cause of death has been given as deep vein thrombosis brought on by pneumonia ? the same condition which killed her grandfather when he was ...
A prediction rule to identify low-risk patients with community-acquired pneumonia - MJ Fine, TE Auble, DM Yealy, BH Hanusa, LA … - New England Journal of Medicine, 1997 - content.nejm.org Original Article from The New England Journal of Medicine -- A Prediction Rule
to Identify Low-Risk Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia. ...
Quality of care, process, and outcomes in elderly patients with pneumonia - TP Meehan, MJ Fine, HM Krumholz, JD Scinto, DH … - JAMA, 1997 - Am Med Assoc ... Quality of care, process, and outcomes in elderly patients with pneumonia. ... Antibiotics
and Pneumonia: Is Timing Everything or Just a Cause of More Problems? ...
The Prevention of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia - MH Kollef - New England Journal of Medicine, 1999 - content.nejm.org Review Article from The New England Journal of Medicine -- The Prevention of
Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia. ... Ventilator associated pneumonia.. Postgrad. Med. ...
Pneumonia is a general term that refers to an infection of the lungs, which can be caused by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites.
Often pneumonia begins after an upper respiratory tract infection (an infection of the nose and throat). When this happens, symptoms of pneumonia begin after 2 or 3 days of a cold or sore throat.
Signs and Symptoms
Symptoms of pneumonia vary, depending on the age of the child and the cause of the pneumonia. Some common symptoms include:
fever
chills
cough
unusually rapid breathing
breathing with grunting or wheezing sounds
labored breathing that makes a child's rib muscles retract (when muscles under the rib cage or between ribs draw inward with each breath)
vomiting
chest pain
abdominal pain
decreased activity
loss of appetite (in older children) or poor feeding (in infants)
in extreme cases, bluish or gray color of the lips and fingernails
Sometimes a child's only symptom is rapid breathing. Sometimes when the pneumonia is in the lower part of the lungs near the abdomen, there may be no breathing problems at all, but there may be fever and abdominal pain or vomiting.
When pneumonia is caused by bacteria, an infected child usually becomes sick relatively quickly and experiences the sudden onset of high fever and unusually rapid breathing. When pneumonia is caused by viruses, symptoms tend to appear more gradually and are often less severe than in bacterial pneumonia. Wheezing may be more common in viral pneumonia.
Some types of pneumonia cause symptoms that give important clues about which germ is causing the illness. For example, in older children and adolescents, pneumonia due to Mycoplasma (also called walking pneumonia) is notorious for causing a sore throat and headache in addition to the usual symptoms of pneumonia.
In infants, pneumonia due to Chlamydia may cause conjunctivitis (redness of the eyes) with only mild illness and no fever. When pneumonia is due to pertussis (whooping cough), the child may have long coughing spells, turn blue from lack of air, or make a classic "whoop" sound when trying to take a breath.
Description
Pneumonia is a lung infection that can be caused by different types of germs, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Although different types of pneumonia tend to affect children in different age groups, pneumonia is most commonly caused by viruses. Some viruses that cause pneumonia are adenoviruses, rhinovirus, influenza virus (flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and parainfluenza virus (the virus that causes croup).
Incubation
The incubation period for pneumonia varies, depending on the type of virus or bacteria causing the infection. Some common incubation periods are: respiratory syncytial virus, 4 to 6 days; influenza, 18 to 72 hours.
Duration
With treatment, most types of bacterial pneumonia can be cured within 1 to 2 weeks. Viral pneumonia may last longer. Mycoplasmal pneumonia may take 4 to 6 weeks to resolve completely.
Contagiousness
The viruses and bacteria that cause pneumonia are contagious and are usually found in fluid from the mouth or nose of an infected person. Illness can spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes on a person, by sharing drinking glasses and eating utensils, and when a person touches the used tissues or handkerchiefs of an infected person.
Prevention
There are vaccines to prevent infections by viruses or bacteria that cause some types of pneumonia. Children usually receive routine immunizations against Haemophilus influenzae and pertussis (whooping cough) beginning at 2 months of age. (The pertussis immunization is the "P" part of the routine DTaP injection.) Vaccines are now also given against the pneumococcus organism (PCV), a common cause of bacterial pneumonia.
Children with chronic illnesses, who are at special risk for other types of pneumonia, may receive additional vaccines or protective immune medication. The flu vaccine is strongly recommended for children with chronic illnesses such as chronic heart or lung disorders or asthma, as well as otherwise healthy children.
Because they are at higher risk for serious complications, infants who were born prematurely may be given treatments that temporarily protect against RSV, which can lead to pneumonia in younger children. Doctors may give prophylactic (disease-preventing) antibiotics to prevent pneumonia in children who have been exposed to someone with certain types of pneumonia, such as pertussis. Children with HIV infection may also receive prophylactic antibiotics to prevent pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii.
Antiviral medication is now available, too, and can be used to prevent some types of viral pneumonia or to make symptoms less severe.
In addition, regular tuberculosis screening is performed yearly in some high- risk areas because early detection will prevent active tuberculosis infection including pneumonia.
In general, pneumonia is not contagious, but the upper respiratory viruses that lead to it are, so it is best to keep your child away from anyone who has an upper respiratory tract infection. If someone in your home has a respiratory infection or throat infection, keep his or her drinking glass and eating utensils separate from those of other family members, and wash your hands frequently, especially if you are handling used tissues or dirty handkerchiefs.
When to Call Your Child's Doctor
Call your child's doctor immediately if your child has any of the signs and symptoms of pneumonia, but especially if your child:
is having trouble breathing or is breathing abnormally fast
has a bluish or gray color to the fingernails or lips
has a fever of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius), or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in infants under 6 months of age
Professional Treatment
Doctors usually make the diagnosis of pneumonia after a physical examination. The doctor may possibly use a chest X-ray, blood tests, and (sometimes) bacterial cultures of mucus produced by coughing when making a diagnosis.
In most cases, pneumonia can be treated with oral antibiotics given to your child at home. The type of antibiotic used depends on the type of pneumonia.
Children may be hospitalized for treatment if they have pneumonia caused by pertussis or other bacterial pneumonia that causes high fevers and respiratory distress. They may also be hospitalized if supplemental oxygen is needed, if they have lung infections that may have spread into the bloodstream, if they have chronic illnesses that affect the immune system, if they are vomiting so much that they cannot take medicine by mouth, or if they have recurrent episodes of pneumonia.
Home Treatment
If your child's doctor has prescribed antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia, give the medicine on schedule for as long as the doctor directs. This will help your child recover faster and will decrease the chance that infection will spread to other household members.
Don't force a child who's not feeling well to eat, but encourage your child to drink fluids, especially if fever is present. Ask your child's doctor before you use a medicine to treat your child's cough because cough suppressants stop the lungs from clearing mucus, which may not be helpful in some types of pneumonia.
If your child has chest pain, try a heating pad or warm compress on the chest area. Take your child's temperature at least once each morning and each evening, and call the doctor if it goes above 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) in an older infant or child, or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in an infant under 6 months of age.
Check your child's lips and fingernails to make sure that they are rosy and pink, not bluish or gray, which is a sign that your child's lungs are not getting enough oxygen.
