Pneumonia is contagious?

Pneumonia (pneumonia ) is most often bacterial in nature. Pneumonia is an acute infectious disease.

The cause of the development of pneumonia can be almost any microorganism. It depends on a number of factors: the age of the patient, the place where he contracted it - at home or in the hospital, if in the hospital, in which ward, the state of immunity and the health of the organism as a whole. Pneumonia is a secondary disease, and it arises as a complication of other diseases.

The main symptoms of pneumonia are an intensifying cough that does not go away for a long time, a cold or flu that does not go away for more than a week, worsening the patient's condition after temporary improvement, the use of paracetamol does not help at high temperature, shortness of breath at low temperature, pale skin against cold symptoms , A fit of coughing when trying to breathe deeply.

Many people ask themselves: is pneumonia contagious? Until recently, it was thought that pneumonia is not a contagious disease. However, recent data show that pneumonia is contagious.

In 1994, large-scale studies of this disease were carried out in the United States, and it was found that pneumonia ranked fourth among the causes of death. Moreover, 36% of medical personnel working in the pulmonology departments get pneumonia every year. Especially in the last twenty years around the world there have been cases of pneumonia epidemics (the biggest one was in 2002 in China, Vietnam and Singapore).

Pneumonia is contagious for people with weakened immunity: those who underwent surgery, women after childbirth, people who had catarrhal diseases or the flu, AIDS patients. In addition to the risk of disease patients can undergo chronic diseases: asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart failure.

Also pneumonia is contagious for the following categories of people: smokers, children under 1 year old, people aged 65 and over, people who abuse alcohol. For all people who are in the risk category of the disease, a vaccination against pneumonia is indicated .

The disease is transmitted by airborne droplets from a sick person to a healthy one.

The development of pneumonia can contribute to severe hypothermia, physical and neuropsychic stresses.

Inflammation of the lungs is a serious disease, which requires compulsory treatment under the supervision of a doctor and a long dispensary observation. After the inflammatory phenomena in the lungs were eliminated, the consequences of pneumonia may appear. Often, people who have had pneumonia, the lungs remain sclerosis, there are spikes, there are areas of the asleep lung. This leads to oxygen starvation, weakens immunity, provokes a decrease in resistance to infections. At an early stage of the disease, intestinal toxemia may manifest. Inflammation of the lungs can lead to disorders of peripheral circulation and heart failure.

The consequences of pneumonia can manifest themselves both in the early period of the course of the disease, and against the background of an improvement in the patient's condition.

Complications of pneumonia can be acute respiratory failure, pleurisy, meningitis, abscess, gangrene of the lung, pulmonary edema, endocarditis, sepsis.

Treatment of pneumonia should be done under the supervision of a doctor who can choose the right therapy to restore the normal structure of the affected lungs and their functions. During the exacerbation of the disease, when pneumonia is contagious, treatment should be carried out in a hospital.

As it was said before, pneumonia is a serious and dangerous disease, it is better to consult a doctor with the first symptoms, in order to avoid complications.

Be attentive to your health and take care!