The Pneumonia Disease

Pneumonia is a disease that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with pus or fluid making it difficult for oxygen to reach your bloodstream. You can develop this disease in one of your lungs or both of your lungs at the same time. This disease can be mild or very severe. It is also possible for you to have Pneumonia and not know it, which is called Walking Pneumonia. It is easier for you to get Pneumonia if you are under the age of two or over the age of 65 because you have a weaker immune system. The history of Pneumonia is very interesting. Pneumonia has been around for what seems like forever throughout history.

Around 460 BC, a Greek physician named Hippocrates described the symptoms of the disease. In the 19th century, people actually discovered that the disease was not just symptoms of other diseases, but it was its own disease. After this, Edwin Klebs, a German pathologist, looked at Pneumonia causing bacteria under a microscope for the first time. This happened in 1875. Carl Friedlander and Albert Frankel determined which two bacteria were most likely to cause Pneumonia in the 1880’s. In the 1930’s, many ways to fight Pneumonia had come about, but the disease was still very common and deadly. In the United States, about 423,000 people are diagnosed with Pneumonia every year. These diagnoses were made after a person had gone to the emergency room because of severe symptoms. This disease is so common and dangerous that 66.9% of people older than 65 have gotten a Pneumonia vaccination. The number of deaths of people over 65 is 50,622 people per year. That is a dangerously high number. Also, Pneumonia kills 16% of children that are younger than the age of five. In 2015, the disease caused 920,136 children to die. 15.9 people out of 100,000 people die of Pneumonia. Although Pneumonia is very deadly, it has also been treated in many people before. An 18-year-old boy once went to the hospital when he started having severe flu-like symptoms. He was then diagnosed with Pneumonia, but he had to be sent to a larger hospital when he started getting very high fevers and could not stop coughing. His fever was 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. He was then started on some strong antibiotics. Eight days later, his fever went away, which was a good sign.

After a long 27 days, he was finally released. This is a success story of a severe case of Pneumonia that could have been deadly if he had not been treated as quickly as he was. Bacteria, viruses, and fungi are all ways you can get Pneumonia in your day-to-day life. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a very common cause for Pneumonia caused by bacteria. This can come about by itself, or it sometimes can occur after you have had a cold or the flu. Viruses also cause Pneumonia. They are the most common cause in children under the age of five years old. The viruses these children get that cause the flu or a cold also can cause Pneumonia. This type of Pneumonia is usually mild but can be severe. Pneumonia caused by fungi is the least common. This type of Pneumonia usually harms people with chronic diseases or weaker immune systems. The fungi that causes the Pneumonia can be found in soil depending on where you live. You may also develop Pneumonia while you are staying at a hospital for a different illness. This is called hospital-acquired Pneumonia. This type of Pneumonia is very dangerous because the bacteria the person got is probably going to resist antibiotics easier. It also is risky because the person getting the disease is already sick.

When you start developing Pneumonia, you might experience many symptoms. Some symptoms are chest pain while breathing, changes in your awareness, coughing, lower body temperature than normal, vomiting, and many more. You age and health helps determine whether or not your symptoms will be severe or if they will be mild. In younger children, you might not see any signs of symptoms, but they could still have the disease. If the disease sticks with them for a long period of time, they will eventually start showing signs of the disease. People often do not know when to visit a doctor when they have this disease. If you are an adult over 65, a child younger than two, a person with a health condition or weak immune system, or a person taking medication that weakens your immune system, you need to go see a doctor as soon as possible if your are experiencing any of the symptoms of Pneumonia.There are a few ways to prevent Pneumonia which includes getting a vaccination, having your children get vaccinated, having good hygiene, not smoking, and keeping your immune system strong. Getting vaccinated as an adult could not only prevent Pneumonia, but it could also prevent you from getting the flu. When you are looking into getting your children vaccinated, talk to your doctor about it. Doctors often recommend different types of vaccinations for different ages of children. Also, having good hygiene is important, so wash your hands regularly or use hand sanitizer. If you are smoking at any point in time, you can damage your lungs making it easier for the disease to infect you. Last, get enough sleep, exercise, and eat healthily because doing those things will keep your immune system strong enough to prevent the disease.As I said in the paragraph above, getting vaccinated can be very important. CDC is The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC recommends that adults over the age of 65 and children younger than the age of two should get a vaccination. There are two different types of vaccinations. These types are the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and the Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine. The Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine is recommended for adults over the age of 65, children under the age of two, and people two through 64 if they have certain medical conditions.

The Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine is recommended for adults older than 65, people two through 64 if they have certain medical conditions and adults 19 through 64 if they regularly smoke. If you fall in any of these categories, get vaccinated.If you do end up getting Pneumonia, you may use antibiotics, cough medicine, fever reducers, or pain medication to treat the disease. These treatments can be used at home if you do not have the disease severely. Most of your symptoms will go away within a few days, but you may still be very tired for quite a while longer. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial Pneumonia. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what type of bacteria is causing you to have Pneumonia. If the antibiotic you get is not treating the bacteria, your doctor will most likely prescribe a different antibiotic. If you do decide to use cough medicines, they should only be used to help you rest. Coughing helps loosen any mucus that is in your lungs which is good for you. Last, using fever reducers or pain killers can relieve any discomfort you may have and help if you have a fever. In conclusion, do your best not to get Pneumonia. It is an awful disease that will make you cough and have many flu-like symptoms. I recommend you get vaccinated and do everything you can to not get the disease. If you are not careful, you might end up in the hospital because of the disease. Even though Pneumonia is not always severe, it is not fun to have, so be careful not to get it.