Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs with a range of possible causes. It can be a serious and life-threatening disease. It happens when an infection causes their air sacs in your lungs to fill with fluid or pus. That can make it harder for you to breathe in enough oxygen to reach your bloodstream. Common symptoms include fever and chills, coughing, hacking up yellow secretions, trouble breathing, and chest pain. Anyone is subjected to lung infection. However, infants and those who are younger than the age of 2 and people over age 65 are at higher risk due to their immune system.
How to treat Pneumonia?
- Your doctor can tell you which treatment is right for you. If you have a mild case of pneumonia like walking pneumonia, you will be treated as an outpatient. Your doctor will start you on an antibiotic regimen. If the patient is a child, he or she may be admitted to the hospital if the doctor thinks it may get worse. Some types of pneumonia are highly contagious, while others are only passed to others under optimal conditions. You should see a significant improvement in your symptoms within 48 hours of treatment.
- Deal with moderate cases. Moderate cases of pneumonia are those with significant respiratory compromised and require supplemental oxygen to keep their oxygen saturation up. Patients who manifests their pneumonia with fever and overall sickly appearance, they will be likely to be admitted to inpatient wards to receive intravenous antibiotics. The treatment from here follows the same for mild cases, because the case has transitioned from moderate to mild.
- Seek help for severe cases. Patients who are going through respiratory failures are the ones who get severe cases of pneumonia. This requires intubation and mechanical ventilation. While in the hospital, you will need supportive care to improve your general health while the medications do their work. Your doctor may use bi-level positive airway pressure to avert the use of intubation and traditional ventilation.
- Take the right antibiotics. Your doctor will determine which kind of pathogen caused your pneumonia, and which will then determine what medicine you should tale. Your doctor in emergency dental Brooklyn NY may prescribe the less common but effective single antibiotic therapy route. In some mild cases, your doctor may prescribe rocephin IV alongside with oral regimen. In all these cases, your doctor will follow up within a few days to see how your symptoms are progressing.
To just prevent pneumonia, keep your immune system in good condition. Eat healthy foods with plenty of nutrients and vitamins. Stay away from sick people because pneumonia can be contracted easily if you are already experiencing other illnesses; avoid people and places where you can encounter more germs.