World Pneumonia Day is observed every year on November 12 to raise awareness about the disease. Here is all you need to know about the symptoms, causes and treatment of pneumonia.
World Pneumonia Day: Pneumonia an acute respiratory infection commonly caused by virus or bacteria is the single biggest infectious killer of adults and children claiming the lives of 2.5 million, including 6,72,000 children in 2019. The surge in Covid pneumonia cases in the recent times are expected to add significantly to the total number of deaths due to pneumonia.
World Pneumonia Day is observed every year on November 12 to raise awareness about the disease.
Overall, India accounts for 23 per cent of the pneumonia burden globally and case fatality rates range between 14 and 30 per cent.
The situation in children is no different where it continues to be the leading cause of mortality worldwide with India accounting for 20% of those deaths and having a higher burden of childhood pneumonia than any other country.
Dr. Viswesvaran Balasubramanian Consultant Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Yashoda Hospitals Hyderabad shares more facts about types of pneumonia, causes, symptoms, prevention and its treatment.
What is Pneumonia?
Any infection causing an inflammatory response in the lung is referred to as pneumonia. Though the majority of pneumonia is caused by bacterial infections, viral infections like influenza or COVID 19 virus can also affect the lungs and can cause serious inflammatory damage to them as evidenced in the ongoing pandemic.
Causes of Pneumonia
“In India, tuberculosis continues to remain a major cause of pneumonia especially amongst people with low socioeconomic status and those with impaired immunity. It is observed that a higher incidence of pneumonia is reported amongst those who are smokers or have a history of alcohol intake or other illicit substance abuse or those with underlying chronic respiratory conditions like COPD,” says Dr. Balasubramanian.
Other factors that can cause pneumonia
* Poor nutritional intake especially amongst children
* Inadequate ventilation at home or workplace
* Presence of underlying immunocompromised conditions like HIV
* Those who are on steroids or other immunosuppressant medications for organ transplant or autoimmune disorders
* Those with uncontrolled diabetes are also at a higher risk of getting pneumonia
Symptoms of Pneumonia
* Most patients with pneumonia generally experience high-grade fever with or without chills and rigor
* They may have cough with yellowish or green-coloured sputum
* They may feel breathlessness
* In addition, few patients may also experience chest pain, occasional coughing out of blood or loss in appetite.
* In severe cases, patients may also develop bloodstream infections and may even require an advanced life support system.
Diagnosis
Most of the pneumonia cases are diagnosed with a simple chest X-ray and basic blood workup but few may require a CT scan of the chest to diagnose atypical presentation or complications of pneumonia.
In addition, other tests like sputum examination are generally ordered to identify the cause of pneumonia.
Recently the advent of molecular tests like RT PCR with a short turnaround time is being employed to arrive at a proper diagnosis with high certainty.
In a small proportion of cases, patients are subjected to invasive procedures like Bronchoscopy to arrive at a proper etiological diagnosis. Treatment of such pneumonia revolves around the initiation of appropriate antibiotics at the earliest with other supportive care.
Preventing Pneumonia
One effective way of preventing the occurrence of pneumonia is to adhering to timely vaccination, especially amongst the high-risk groups. Various adult vaccines like influenza and pneumococcal are proven to be successful in reducing the incidence and severity of bacterial pneumonia in adults.
With the pandemic going on ensuring adequate vaccination with COVID 19 is mandatory.
Other lifestyle modifications like abstinence from smoking and drinking, adequate nutrition, routine physical activity, avoiding overcrowding, and maintaining appropriate blood sugar levels amongst diabetic patients can decrease the chance of acquiring a pneumonia.
