pneumonia

pneumonia, inflammation and consolidation of the lung tissue as a result of infection, inhalation of foreign particles, or irradiation. Many organisms, including viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia, but the most common causes are bacteria—in particular, species of Streptococcus and Mycoplasma.

Although viral pneumonia does occur, viruses more commonly play a part in weakening the lung, thus inviting secondary pneumonia caused by bacteria. Fungal pneumonia can develop very rapidly and may be fatal, but it usually occurs in hospitalized persons who, because of impaired immunity, have reduced resistance to infection. Contaminated dusts, when inhaled by previously healthy individuals, can sometimes cause fungal lung diseases. Pneumonia can also occur as a hypersensitivity, or allergic response, to agents such as mold, humidifiers, and animal excreta or to chemical or physical injury (e.g., smoke inhalation).

Bacterial pneumonia

Streptococcal pneumonia, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, is the single most common form of pneumonia, especially in hospitalized patients. The bacteria may live in the bodies of healthy persons and cause disease only after resistance has been lowered by other illness or infection. Viral infections such as the common cold promote streptococcal pneumonia by causing excessive secretion of fluids in the respiratory tract. These fluids provide an environment in which the bacteria flourish.

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Patients with bacterial pneumonia typically experience a sudden onset of high fever with chills, cough, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing. As the disease progresses, coughing becomes the major symptom. Sputum discharge may contain flecks of blood. Any chest pains result from the tenderness of the trachea (windpipe) and muscles from severe coughing. Diagnosis usually can be established by taking a culture of the organism from the patient’s sputum and by chest X-ray examination.

Treatment is with specific antibiotics and supportive care, and recovery generally occurs in a few weeks. In some cases, however, the illness may become very severe, and it is sometimes fatal, particularly in elderly people and young children. Death from streptococcal pneumonia is caused by inflammation and significant and extensive bleeding in the lungs that results in the eventual cessation of breathing. Streptococcal bacteria release a toxin called pneumolysin that damages the blood vessels in the lungs, causing bleeding into the air spaces. Antibiotics may exacerbate lung damage because they are designed to kill the bacteria by breaking them open, which leads to the further release of pneumolysin. Research into the development of aerosol agents that stimulate blood clotting and that can be inhaled into the lungs and possibly be used in conjunction with traditional therapies for streptococcal pneumonia is ongoing.

Mycoplasmal pneumonia, caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, an extremely small organism, usually affects children and young adults; few cases beyond age 50 are seen. Most outbreaks of this disease are confined to families, small neighbourhoods, or institutions, although epidemics can occur. M. pneumoniae grows on the mucous membrane that lines the surfaces of internal lung structures; it does not invade the deeper tissues—muscle fibres, elastic fibres, or nerves. The bacteria can produce an oxidizing agent that might be responsible for some cell damage. Usually the organism does not invade the membrane that surrounds the lungs, but it does sometimes inflame the bronchi and alveoli.

Another bacterium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, although it has little ability to infect the lungs of healthy persons, produces a highly lethal pneumonia that occurs almost exclusively in hospitalized patients with impaired immunity. Other bacterial pneumonias include Legionnaire disease, caused by Legionella pneumophila; pneumonia secondary to other illnesses caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Hemophilus influenzae; and psittacosis, an atypical infectious form.

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Viral pneumonia

Viral pneumonias are primarily caused by respiratory syncytial, parainfluenza, and influenza viruses. Symptoms of these pneumonias include runny nose, decreased appetite, and low-grade fever, usually followed by respiratory congestion and cough. Diagnosis is established by physical examination and chest X rays. Nonbacterial pneumonia is treated primarily with supportive care. In general, the prognosis is excellent.

Fungal pneumonia

Tuberculosis should always be considered a possibility in any patient with pneumonia, and skin testing is included in the initial examination of patients with lung problems. Fungal infections such as coccidioidomycosis and histoplasmosis should also be considered, particularly if the patient was recently exposed to excavations, backyard swimming pools, old sheds or barns, or dust storms. Other fungal and protozoan parasites (such as Pneumocystis carinii) are common in patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs or in patients with cancer, AIDS, or other chronic diseases. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia has been one of the major causes of death among AIDS patients.

Hypersensitivity pneumonia

Hypersensitivity pneumonias are a spectrum of disorders that arise from an allergic response to the inhalation of a variety of organic dusts. These pneumonias may occur following exposure to moldy hay or sugarcane, room humidifiers, and air-conditioning ducts, all of which contain the fungus Actinomyces. Other fungi found in barley, maple logs, and wood pulp may cause similar illnesses.

In addition, people exposed to rats, gerbils, pigeons, parakeets, and doves may develop manifestations of hypersensitivity pneumonia. Initially, these patients experience fever with chills, cough, shortness of breath, headache, muscle pain, and malaise, all of which may subside in a day if there is no further exposure. A more insidious form of hypersensitivity pneumonia is associated with persistent malaise, fever, weight loss, and cough. Diagnosis is established by medical history, physical examination, and specific laboratory tests. Treatment consists of removing the patient from the offending environment, bed rest, and supportive care.

Other causes

Pneumonia can also result from inhalation of oil droplets. This type of disease, known as lipoid pneumonia, occurs most frequently in workers exposed to large quantities of oily mist and in the elderly. Oil that is being swallowed may be breathed into the respiratory tract, or, less often, it may come from the body itself when the lung is physically injured. Scar tissue forms as a result of the presence of the oil. Ordinarily no treatment is necessary.

Inflammation of lung tissues may result from X-ray treatment of tumours within the chest. The disease makes its appearance from 1 to 16 weeks after exposure to high-dose X-rays has ceased. (The level of radiation in a routine chest X-ray is too low to cause significant damage to living tissue.) Recovery is usual unless too great an area of lung tissue is involved.