Pneumonia is a breathing (respiratory) condition in which there is an infection of the lung.
This article covers community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). This type of pneumonia is found in people who have not recently been in the hospital or another health care facility such as a nursing home or rehab facility. Pneumonia that affects people in or recently released from a health care facility, such as hospitals, is called hospital-acquired pneumonia (or health care-associated pneumonia).
Bronchopneumonia; Community-acquired pneumonia; CAP
Pneumonia is a common illness that affects millions of people each year in the United States. Germs called bacteria, viruses, and fungi may cause pneumonia. In adults, bacteria are the most common cause of pneumonia.
Ways you can get pneumonia include:
Pneumonia can be caused by many types of germs.
Risk factors that increase your chance of getting pneumonia include:
The most common symptoms of pneumonia are:
Other symptoms include:
Your provider must first decide whether you need to be in the hospital. If you are treated in the hospital, you will receive:
If you are diagnosed with a bacterial form of pneumonia, it is important that you are started on antibiotics very soon after you are admitted. If you have viral pneumonia, you will not receive antibiotics. This is because antibiotics do not kill viruses. You may receive other medicines, such as antivirals, if you have the flu.
You are more likely to be admitted to the hospital if you:
Many people can be treated at home. If so, your provider may tell you to take medicines such as antibiotics.
When taking antibiotics:
Breathing warm, moist (wet) air helps loosen the sticky mucus that may make you feel like you are choking. These things may help:
Drink plenty of liquids, as long as your provider says it is OK.
Get plenty of rest when you go home. If you have trouble sleeping at night, take naps during the day.
Paul Wolters is a Pulmonary Medicine specialist and an Intensive Care Medicine expert in San Francisco, California. Wolters has been practicing medicine for over 31 years and is rated as an Elite expert by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumonia. He is also highly rated in 12 other conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Acute Interstitial Pneumonia, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Interstitial Lung Disease, Pulmonary Fibrosis, and Lung Transplant. Wolters is currently accepting new patients.
Richard Wunderink is an Intensive Care Medicine specialist and a Pulmonary Medicine expert in Chicago, Illinois. Wunderink has been practicing medicine for over 43 years and is rated as an Elite expert by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumonia. He is also highly rated in 6 other conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Pneumonia, Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), COVID-19, and Endoscopy. Wunderink is currently accepting new patients.
Marin Kollef is an Intensive Care Medicine specialist and a Pulmonary Medicine expert in Saint Louis, Missouri. Kollef has been practicing medicine for over 40 years and is rated as an Elite expert by MediFind in the treatment of Pneumonia. He is also highly rated in 5 other conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Pneumonia, Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia, Tracheitis, Bone Marrow Aspiration, and Endoscopy. Kollef is currently accepting new patients.
With treatment, most people improve within 2 weeks. Older adults or very sick people may need longer treatment.
Those who may be more likely to have complicated pneumonia include:
In all of the above conditions, pneumonia can lead to serious illness or even death, if it is severe.
In rare cases, more serious problems may develop, including:
Your provider may order another x-ray. This is to make sure your lungs are clear. But it may take many weeks for your x-ray to clear up. You will likely feel better before the x-ray clears up.
Contact your provider if you have:
You can help prevent pneumonia by following the measures below.
Wash your hands often, especially:
Avoid coming into contact with people who are sick.
Do not smoke. Tobacco damages your lung's ability to fight infection.
Vaccines may help prevent some types of pneumonia. Be sure to get the following vaccines:
Vaccines are even more important for older adults and people with diabetes, asthma, emphysema, HIV, cancer, people with organ transplants, or other long-term conditions.
Summary: Asia has the highest burden with the largest contribution of pneumonia burden from India. Pneumonia is also observed as 5th leading cause of deaths in India. People with diabetes with uncontrolled glucose are significantly at higher risk of development of pneumonia. Even though, pneumonia is a vaccine-preventable disease, hospitalization for pneumonia of patients with diabetes are rising. Very lim...
Summary: Although there are fasting guidelines offered by the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) for managing preoperative patient assessment, some patients may need to be more cautious about the risk of aspiration. Since ultrasound has been a part of perioperative anesthesiology practice, it is simple to assess gastric content preoperatively with bedside ultrasonography (USG). More research is neces...
Published Date: July 31, 2022
Published By: Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, MHS, Paul F. Harron, Jr. Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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Metlay JP, Waterer GW, Long AC, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of adults with community-acquired pneumonia. An Official Clinical Practice Guideline of the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019;200(7):e45-e67. PMID: 31573350 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31573350/.
Musher DM. Overview of pneumonia. In: Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 91.