Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a common illness that especially occurs with older people and smokers that suffer from chronic lung diseases like bronchitis.

Pneumonia is first caused by different bacteria and more rarely by virus.

Often, pneumonia begins like a common cold with a running nose, a sore throat and dry cough. After a few days, you become ill with chills, high fever, cough, trouble with breathing and chest pains. The fever comes like a bolt from the blue and is often higher than 39ºC. Pneumonia always causes a fever – this is also true for the so-called walking pneumonia. The cough is dry for a few days but quickly thereafter follow sputum of thick yellowish or greenish secrete. Not infrequently, there is fresh blood in the sputum. The chest pains are located downward in the lungs and are heavily worsened by cough and deep breaths.

Most people with pneumonia are seriously ill and lie in bed. The breathing is fast and shallow. Trouble with breathing can be dominating and older people are often so confused that they cannot take care of themselves and are therefore admitted into a hospital.

A general practitioner makes the diagnosis by listening to the lungs, evaluating the ill and taking a few blood samples. Some times it is necessary to take an x-ray of the lungs to see the pneumonia.