Pneumonia is an acute inflammation of the lower respiratory tract caused by an infection. In the process of the disease, lung tissue is often affected. In our country, according to official statistics, more than a million people get pneumonia every year. And no matter how medicine progresses today, mortality from pneumonia is still within five percent.
Species features of pneumonia
In order to unequivocally answer the question of how to get pneumonia, you need to understand that this disease, depending on various factors, is divided into types.
The first type is the so-called congestive pneumonia. It occurs due to blood stasis in the lungs, their upper part, or bronchi. It is considered a disease accompanying complications, therefore this type of pneumonia is not contagious.
The second type is focal. This is an acute passing disease, the focal zone of which is located in one, less often several places of the lungs. Doctors share bilateral, left- or right-sided focal pneumonia. This species is especially dangerous. Firstly, it is definitely contagious. Secondly, the disease proceeds without manifesting itself externally or internally.
The third type is community-acquired pneumonia (atypical). Sometimes it is called viral. It occurs due to damage to lung tissue by an infectious-bacterial route. The causative agents are multiple viruses, chlamydia, salmonella, legionella, mycoplasmas and other atypical species of pathogens.
Is this type of pneumonia dangerous? Yes. But the infected person begins a completely different inflammatory disease, caused by a pathogen in the respiratory tract.
The fourth type is basal pneumonia. An acute infectious and inflammatory disease that is difficult to diagnose. How do people get pneumonia of this type? Airborne droplet. It is easy enough to catch a basal view, especially to children.
The fifth type is chronic pneumonia. A completely natural form of neglected disease. The usual acute form without exposure to drugs becomes chronic. Extremely contagious.
The sixth form is bronchial pneumonia. The disease begins when bacteria and specific viruses enter the respiratory tract. It differs from the atypical type of pneumonia by the localization of foci of the inflammatory process. Only the alveoli of the bronchi are affected. How do people get pneumonia of this type? Simple: airborne droplets. Just by inhaling air contaminated with specific viruses or bacteria. But the disease does not always develop.
The seventh type is caseous pneumonia. Deservedly considered the most dangerous and serious type of tuberculosis. The initial stage of the disease is very fleeting. Then complications begin. This species is very dangerous for others.
The eighth view is hospital pneumonia. No less dangerous than the previous view. A considerable part of the causative agents of this disease has developed resistance to most drugs. Therefore, the healing process is complex and lengthy. This species is also very dangerous. The easiest way to “pick up” it in the pulmonary or therapeutic departments of clinical hospitals or in clinics. Here's how to get severe pneumonia.
How long does the infectious period last
Until now, doctors consider this issue controversial. There is no definite answer to the question of how long it takes to get pneumonia. There is a certain dependence on the subspecies of the disease, the age of the patient, and other causes.
If averaged, then in an adult, the incubation period can last from several days to a week. In children up to a month and infants, this period can take several weeks.
Be sure to consider that the absence of symptoms of the disease does not mean that the patient is not contagious. While pathogens continue to develop in the human body, it is considered potentially dangerous.
How to get pneumonia
Symptoms of the disease, such as coughing and sneezing, carry a large number of microbes and viruses that are potentially dangerous to others. A healthy person needs only one breath to get the dose necessary for the disease. Over the next 4-6 days, a sick person does not feel any changes. Sometimes a slight increase in body temperature is recorded. This path, called airborne droplets, is the most common.
There is a household way to spread this pathology. How do people get pneumonia in this case? A sick person, sneezing and coughing, spreads viruses and bacteria into the air mixture that “lie down” on items of clothing, furniture, etc. Under such conditions, the bacteria will be vitally active for about four hours. Therefore, it is worth taking on something "infected" and touching the mucous membrane of the eye, nose - and we can assume that the disease began its development.
Estimated Risk Group
Any infectious type of pneumonia will probably be dangerous for:
- people with low immunity;
- women in position;
- children;
- people with drug or alcohol addiction;
- patients undergoing hormone therapy;
- people who are depressed or physically exhausted;
- only had a cold, including SARS or ARI;
- patients with chronic diseases: various types of deficiencies, diabetes, etc.
Disease tolerance
The viruses and bacteria that cause pneumonia are so strong that even a healthy person can hardly cope with them. Modern children are at constant risk. In an unfavorable environmental situation, children, especially kindergartens, have weakened immunity, which undoubtedly gives odds to pneumonia.
Ladies in position, doctors warn of this threat from the first days of pregnancy. And it is strongly recommended not to neglect even the slightest suspicion of pneumonia. You should immediately consult a doctor. Pneumonia for pregnant women is dangerous not only with the birth of a sick baby and with complications of the birth process.
Signs that give reason to go to the doctor
How to find out if you get pneumonia? Enough to listen to yourself. First, causeless weakness appears and performance is significantly reduced. Then a fever can begin, with a temperature close to 40 0 C. After a day, a cough with an abundance of sputum may occur. It will provoke shortness of breath (even at rest), burning or chest pain.
Almost everyone has insomnia, decreased appetite, and fatigue.
With the physical method of diagnosis, the patient can clearly hear wheezing (most often fine bubbles) and the sound becomes dull in the area of inflammation. Although, according to statistics, one in five does not have local symptoms.
Summer pneumonia: myth or reality
It has always been believed that pneumonia is an off-season disease. Its occurrence is provoked by temperature changes, causing the body to rebuild. And while adaptation takes place, immunity is reduced and a person is ready for the acceptance and development of the virus.
Today, doctors are horrified to note that pneumonia can also get sick in the summer, and with a high degree of probability. This is facilitated by high atmospheric temperature and human carelessness. Most of the families in our country use air conditioning, which, cooling the air in the room, greatly overdry it. Such air is an excellent environment for the development of pathogenic microbes, and in particular Legionella. And further as on the thumb. Intoxication of the body, sleep disturbance, apathy, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, excruciating expectorant cough with purulent discharge ...
Post scriptum
A kiss with pneumonia is not as bad as a handshake!