Symptoms of Pneumonia

The diagnosis of pneumonia often is associated with feelings of uncertainty and fear for a number of reasons. Many cases of upper respiratory infections can transform into lower respiratory infections leading to bronchospasm or bronchitis. If left untreated, bronchitis may turn into pneumonia. The symptoms of pneumonia vary by individual although there are many classic symptoms. Children, adults, and elderly patients are all susceptible to pneumonia and must be monitored for symptoms. It is very important to recognize that there are two types of pneumoniaseparated by significant differences. Viral pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia are treated differently due to the source of infection. Viral pneumonia cannot be treated with antibiotics because the source of the infection is a virus. Bacterial pneumonia is treatable by antibiotics. Understanding the difference in symptoms is critical to help make a prompt diagnosis and begin the best treatment option. In severe cases, patients may need to be hospitalized for treatment and observation.

The most common symptoms of viral pneumonia include a previous respiratory infection, low grade fever, productive cough, and general fatigue. Manypatients with viral pneumonia report feeling flu-like symptoms.Additional symptomsinclude sore throat, chestpain, body weakness, and chills. Bacterial pneumonia tends to be associated with a more dramatic productive cough with mucus that is thick and often green in color. Patients frequently complain of difficulty breathing, coughing that hurts, chest pains, problems taking a deep breath, and a higher fever than patients with viral pneumonia.Bacterial pneumonia symptomsare usually worse than viral pneumonia symptoms and the patients may also report abdominal pain. Patientswith other medical conditions including asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiac conditions need to be extremely carefulwith pneumonia symptoms.If youhave ahistory of pre-existing medical conditions and you are experiencing pneumonia symptoms, seek medicalattentionimmediately.The longer it takes to receive aconfirmeddiagnosis of pneumonia results a delayed treatment plan.