This table explains how the pneumococcal vaccine is given, who should get it, and whether it is on the National Immunisation Program Schedule. Some diseases can be prevented with different vaccines, so talk to your doctor about which one is appropriate for you.
Find out more on the Department of Health website and the National Immunisation Program Schedule , and ask your doctor if you are eligible for additional free vaccines based on your situation or location.
The vaccine is very safe. Side effects may include pain, redness and swelling where the needle went in, fever, feeling irritable, feeling drowsy, reduced appetite or body aches.
You can also consider getting vaccinated against influenza. Pneumonia is one of the possible complications of influenza. A new influenza vaccine is available every year. It is free to some people who are at increased risk, including children under 5 years, pregnant women, people aged 65 and over, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people with certain medical conditions.
For more information about the influenza vaccine, visit the Department of Health website. Vaccination can also prevent other illnesses that can lead to pneumonia. These are all available for children as part of routine childhood vaccinations in Australia under the National Immunisation Program Schedule and include:.
Not smoking will also help protect against pneumonia. Eating healthily and keeping your immune system strong are other ways to protect your health. If you or someone near you has an infection, you can reduce the risk of passing that infection on by:. Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content.
Read more on WA Health website. Pneumonia can affect anyone. Symptoms of pneumonia, like chest pain, cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing, can require hospitalisation. Read more on Lung Foundation Australia website.
What is pneumonia? Pneumonia is inflammation or infection of one or both lungs caused by viruses or bacteria. Read more on Sydney Children's Hospitals Network website. Read more on myDr website. Pneumonia is a lung infection. The symptoms of pneumonia in children include breathing changes, fever, a moist cough, increased irritability and tiredness.
Read more on raisingchildren. Pneumonia can be a serious illness, particularly for babies and young children, people older than 65 and people with pre-existing health problems. Read more on Better Health Channel website. Pneumococcal disease Streptococcus pneumoniae infections in people with diabetes are associated with increased mortality and morbidity.
Read more on Diabetes Australia website. Read more on Diagnostic Imaging Pathways website. Pneumonia is an acute infection of the lungs that causes the alveoli in one or both lungs to fill with pus and fluids. When a person has pneumonia, breathing is painful and oxygen intake is limited. In , over two million people died from pneumonia worldwide. Read more on Ausmed Education website. Hospitalised patients with respiratory conditions, particularly those who have undergone chest or abdominal surgery, should perform breathing and coughing exercises in order to prevent further issues and complications such as pneumonia associated with excess sputum in the lungs.
If you think of Winter, you may at first associate it with the flu, colds, or respiratory complications such as pneumonia. However, in the cooler months, seasonal affective disorder SAD may be often overlooked as a simple case of the 'winter blues' Healthdirect Read more on Immunisation Coalition website. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.
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Top of the page. Topic Overview What is pneumonia? What causes pneumonia? What are the symptoms? Symptoms of pneumonia may include: Cough. You will likely cough up mucus sputum from your lungs. Mucus may be rusty or green or tinged with blood. Fever, chills, and sweating. Fast breathing and feeling short of breath.
Chest pain that often feels worse when you cough or breathe in. Fast heartbeat. Feeling very tired or very weak. How is pneumonia diagnosed? How is it treated?
How can you prevent pneumonia? Health Tools Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health. Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition.
Cause Viruses, bacteria, a fungus, or in rare cases parasites or other organisms can cause pneumonia. In most cases, the specific organism such as bacteria or virus cannot be identified even with testing. Many types of bacteria may cause pneumonia. Pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae is sometimes less severe and called "walking pneumonia. How do you get pneumonia? You may get pneumonia: After you breathe infected air particles into your lungs. After you breathe certain bacteria from your nose and throat into your lungs.
During or after a viral upper respiratory infection , such as a cold or influenza flu. As a complication of a viral illness, such as measles or chickenpox.
If you breathe large amounts of food, gastric juices from the stomach, or vomit into the lungs aspiration pneumonia. This can happen when you have had a medical condition that affects your ability to swallow, such as a seizure or a stroke.
Symptoms Symptoms of pneumonia in otherwise healthy people often start during or after an upper respiratory infection , such as influenza flu or a cold. Symptoms may include: Cough, often producing mucus, also called sputum, from the lungs.
Fever, chills and sweating, which may be less common in older adults. Fast, often shallow, breathing and the feeling of being short of breath. Chest wall pain that is often made worse by coughing or breathing in. Feeling very tired or weak.
In children, symptoms may depend on age: In infants younger than 1 month of age, symptoms may include having little or no energy lethargy , feeding poorly, grunting, or having a fever.
In children, symptoms of pneumonia are often the same as in adults. Your doctor will look for signs such as a cough and a faster breathing rate. What Happens After you've been infected with a pneumonia-causing organism, it takes as little as 1 to 3 days or as long as 7 to 10 days for symptoms to appear. How severe pneumonia is and how long it lasts depend on: Your age and health. Older, sicker people usually have more severe cases.
And their cases of pneumonia are more likely to cause complications, such as bacteria in the bloodstream bacteremia or throughout the body septicemia. Whether bacteria or a virus caused the pneumonia. Viral pneumonia usually is less severe than bacterial pneumonia. How quickly you treat it. The sooner you treat pneumonia, the sooner symptoms go away. Your immune system. People who have impaired immune systems are more likely to have more severe pneumonia than people who have healthy immune systems.
Going to the hospital If you have severe pneumonia, you may have to go to the hospital: In most cases of pneumonia you get in your daily life, such as at school or work community-based pneumonia , it is not necessary to go to the hospital. Spreading pneumonia to others If your pneumonia is caused by a virus or bacteria, you may spread the infection to other people while you are contagious.
Cigarette smoking is a strong risk factor for pneumonia in healthy young people. Have another medical condition, especially lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD or asthma.
Are younger than 1 year of age or older than Have an impaired immune system. Take medicine called a proton pump inhibitor such as Losec that reduces the amount of stomach acid. Recently had a cold or the flu. You are more likely to have complications of pneumonia and need to go to the hospital if you: Are older than Have some other illness such as COPD, diabetes, or asthma , or have gone to the hospital for a medical problem within the last 3 months. Have had your spleen removed or do not have a working spleen such as in sickle cell disease.
Have an alcohol use problem. Have a weak immune system. Reside in a place where people live close together, such as a university dorm or nursing home. When should you call your doctor? Call or other emergency services immediately if you: Have chest pain that is crushing or squeezing, is increasing in intensity, or occurs with any other symptoms of a heart attack.
Have such bad trouble breathing that you are worried you will not have the strength or ability to keep breathing. Cough up large amounts of blood. Feel that you may faint when you sit up or stand. Call a doctor immediately if you have: A cough that produces blood-tinged or rust-coloured mucus from the lungs.
A fever with shaking chills. Difficult, shallow, fast breathing with shortness of breath or wheezing. Call a doctor if your cough: Frequently brings up yellow or green mucus from the lungs and lasts longer than 2 days. Do not confuse mucus from your lungs with mucus running down the back of your throat from your nasal passages post-nasal drip. Post-nasal drainage is not a worry. Occurs with a fever of Causes you to vomit a lot. Continues longer than 4 weeks.
Watchful waiting Watchful waiting is a wait-and-see approach. Home treatment may be appropriate if: You have classic cold symptoms nasal stuffiness, mild body aches or headache, mild fever. You cough up mucus that is running down the back of the throat from the nasal passages post-nasal drip. But a cough in which the mucus is definitely coming from the lungs rather than the nasal passages is a more serious problem, and you should contact your doctor. You have signs of the flu high fever, severe muscle aches or headache, and mild respiratory symptoms.
For more information, see the topic Influenza. Who to see Your family doctor or general practitioner can diagnose and treat pneumonia. Examinations and Tests Your doctor will usually diagnose pneumonia with: Your medical history. A physical examination. A chest X-ray, which is almost always done to check for changes in the lungs that may mean pneumonia and to look for other causes of your symptoms.
But an X-ray does not always show whether you have pneumonia, especially if it is done when you first get sick. In some cases, the X-ray results may: Suggest the type of organism bacterial, viral, or fungal causing pneumonia. Show complications of pneumonia, such as infection of the heart muscle or the sac surrounding the heart. Show conditions that may occur with pneumonia, such as fluid in the chest cavity or a collapsed lung.
Reveal another condition, such as heart failure, lung cancer, or acute bronchitis. Lab tests for pneumonia The need for more tests often depends on how severe your symptoms are, your age, and your overall health.
Mucus test If you are very ill, have severe shortness of breath, or have a condition that increases your risk such as asthma or COPD , your doctor may test your mucus. Rapid urine test This test can identify some bacteria that cause pneumonia. HIV test In people who have impaired immune systems , pneumonia may be caused by other organisms, including some forms of fungi, such as Pneumocystis jiroveci formerly called Pneumocystis carinii.
Other lung tests If you have severe pneumonia, you may need other tests , including tests to check for complications and to find out how well your immune system is working. Treatment Overview Bacterial pneumonia Doctors use antibiotics to treat pneumonia caused by bacteria, the most common cause of the condition. You likely will not have to go to the hospital unless you: Are older than Have other health problems, such as COPD, heart failure, asthma, diabetes, long-term chronic kidney failure, or chronic liver disease.
Cannot care for yourself or would not be able to tell anyone if your symptoms got worse. Have severe illness that reduces the amount of oxygen getting to your tissues. Have chest pain caused by inflammation of the lining of the lung pleurisy so you are not able to cough up mucus effectively and clear your lungs.
Are being treated outside a hospital and are not getting better such as your shortness of breath not improving. Are not able to eat or keep food down, so you need to take fluids through a vein intravenous. Viral pneumonia Pneumonia also can be caused by viruses, such as those that cause the flu and chickenpox varicella. People who are more likely to get pneumonia after having the flu for example, pregnant women may get an antiviral medicine such as oseltamivir Tamiflu or zanamivir Relenza to help relieve symptoms.
Varicella pneumonia, which is rare, also can be treated with antiviral medicine. What to think about In most cases pneumonia is a short-term, treatable illness. For more information, see: Advance Care Planning. Care at the End of Life.
Prevention There are a number of steps you can take to help prevent getting pneumonia. Stop smoking. You're more likely to get pneumonia if you smoke. Avoid people who have infections that sometimes lead to pneumonia. Stay away from people who have colds, the flu, or other respiratory tract infections. If you haven't had measles or chickenpox or if you didn't get vaccines against these diseases, avoid people who have them.
Vaccinations Pneumococcal vaccines. Vaccination of children for measles can prevent most cases of measles. Adults may need to be vaccinated against measles if they have not had the disease or were not vaccinated during childhood. A yearly flu vaccine may keep you from getting the flu. If this is the case, you may be told to take over-the-counter pain or fever medications, drink hot fluids and get plenty of rest. If your pneumonia is severe and requires a hospital stay, you may get fluids and antibiotics if necessary through an IV and oxygen therapy to help you breathe.
People with the most severe cases may be put on a ventilator. Most people will recover from pneumonia, although symptoms can linger for weeks. You Might Also Like:. Because smokers are at greater risk for pneumonia, if you are contemplating quitting smoking, your doctor can provide you with great resources to help you succeed and protect your lung health, she adds.
Are you concerned you may have pneumonia? Our expert primary care physicians can help.
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