microorganisms that are responsible to cause pneumonia, but only a few of them are responsible for the majority of
the cases. The most common causes of pneumonia are viruses, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Gram-negative bacteria
and the "atypical" bacteria. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common bacterial cause of pneumonia in all age
groups except newborn infants. Gram-negative bacteria are seen less frequently; Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella
pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Moraxella catarrhalis are the most common. The
"atypical" agents are Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and Legionella pneumophila. Other
important bacterial causes include Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Viral pneumonia is usually
caused by influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus, and metapneumovirus. Herpes simplex
virus is a rare cause of pneumonia except in newborns. Fungi are uncommon causes of pneumonia. Fungal
pneumonia is most often caused by Histoplasma capsulatum, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Coccidioides immitis
(Pneumonia). The main ones are the ones that cause the most deaths and I am going to go into them in more detail in
the next few paragraphs. “Anatomic or lobar pneumonia is an infection that only involves a single lobe of a lung.
This is mainly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a strain of streptococcus which is
a main pathogen in the human body. This was deemed the major leading cause of pneumonia in the late 1880’s, and
in result is a subject of many different kinds of hormonal immunity studies” (Streptococcus Pneumoniae).
“The other main type of pneumonia is community-acquired pneumonia. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a
disease in which individuals who are have not recently been hospitalized develop an infection of the lungs. CAP is a
common illness and can affect people of all ages. CAP often causes problems breathing, fever, chest pains, and a
cough. CAP occurs because the areas of the lung which absorb oxygen (alveoli) from the atmosphere become filled
with fluid and cannot work effectively. CAP occurs throughout the world and is a leading cause of illness and death.
Causes of CAP include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. CAP can be diagnosed by symptoms and physical
examination alone, though x-rays, examination of the sputum, and other tests are often used. Individuals with CAP
sometimes require treatment in a hospital. CAP is primarily treated with antibiotic medication. Some forms of CAP
can be prevented by vaccination” (Community-acquired Pneumonia). An out dated term for this type is walking
pneumonia. It was once called this because it still allowed you to walk around. Some of the other types of pneumonia
that isn’t as common as these ones and they are: Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Bronchiolitis obliterans
organizing pneumonia, Eosinophilic pneumonia, Chemical pneumonia (Pneumonia).
The history of pneumonia closely parallels the history of medicine itself. The symptoms of pneumonia were first
described by Hippocrates (c. 460 BC–380 BC). He was the first person proven to put the symptoms to a name. He
basically said that if the mucus is of a blond color and there is pain on both sides of the chest area then the likely
hood of pneumonia is to be present (Pneumonia). Since then they had started finding many different types of
pneumonias. Most of the types of pneumonia were found on the autopsies that were done. It took many different
years to find the exact causes of pneumonia then after a long period of trying to figure it out they finally pin pointed
it. They started finding out the symptoms of it. There were many different ones of symptoms. When they got the
different kinds of pneumonia there was a small amount of different symptoms to different types of pneumonia, but
when they figured out what they were they classified them to the type.There are some symptoms to pneumonia that
are the same. They consist of: A loss in appetite, feeling ill, clammy skin, nasal flaring, fatigue, mental confusion,
joint and muscle stiffness, anxiety, stress and tension, abdominal pain. These symptoms can be the same for all types.
For bacterial pneumonia the person can experience chills, shaking, a cough that causes greenish or rusty colored
mucus, sweating, and rapid breathing and heart rate. For viral pneumonia fever, dry cough, headache and muscle
pain and weakness. After a couple of day the flu symptoms will start. With mycoplasma pneumonia, the person may
experience: violent coughing attacks, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, slow heartbeat, breathlessness, bluish color to
lips and nail beds, diarrhea, rash, muscle aches. This one has some different ones like the slowed heart beat. Most of
the others have heightened heart beat due to the shortness of breath and the body working harder to keep up (Health
Encyclopedia – Diseases). There are some different types of treatments that they can do to help or take away the
symptoms.
Before you can treat pneumonia you first have to diagnose. When you go to the doctor he can do a couple of
different things to tell if there is a possibility of you having pneumonia. The first things that he is going to do is put a
stethoscope on your chest and listen for a gargling sound. That sound is the first sign of pneumonia but still can’t
they still have to do a couple of more things. The doctor may order a chest x-ray, a sputum gram stain and a blood
test. The chest x-ray may show a blotchy-white area, where fluid and pus has accumulated in the lung's air sacs. The
sputum grain stain and the blood test may determine the cause and severity of the condition. If these tests are
inconclusive, the doctor may perform a procedure called a bronchoscopy. In this procedure, a flexible, thin and lit
viewing tube is inserted into the nose or mouth after a local anesthetic is administered. The breathing passages can
then be directly examined by the doctor and specimens from the infected part of the lung can be obtained. Just like
there are different kinds of symptoms for each pneumonia there are different treatment. For the bactrerial pneumonia
they normally treat it with penicillin, ampicillin-clavulanate, and other antibiotics like these. The main prescription
that is prescribed is zithromax. This is classified as one of the best drugs on the market (Z-Pack). With the viral
pneumonia there isn’t anything that can be prescribed for it will eventually go out of your system. But if it gets
infected with another form of bacteria the doctor will prescribe the right medicine for the infection. Mycoplasma
pneumonia is treated just like bacterial pneumonia. Along with the medication the doctor is going to order you to
have bed rest and lots of fluid. The symptoms usually go away with in a week to four weeks. The coughing can last
for as long as six to eight weeks (Health Encyclopedia – Diseases). With all of this said this is one of the infections
that you don’t want to have.
With having pneumonia lat spring I know first hand that this is a infection that is not a good one. I had had
pneumonia for about 4 weeks before I actually went to the doctors. I didn’t know until one night that I was having
bad chest pains and went to the emergency room. The doctor said that it had started out about the size of a quarter
then progressed to the half of one of my lungs and a quarter of the other. So from experience I know that getting
pneumonia is not a fun thing. There is some things that you can do to prevent it. You can get a vaccination that will
help out in stopping the affects. The flu shot will also help. But the major thing to do is not to smoke. Smoking
interferes with the natural defense of pneumonia. So in the upcoming months of flu season you will see the multiple
people becoming ill with it.
