Viral Infections – Pneumonia

Also called: Bronchopneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection in one or both of the lungs. Many germs, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, can cause pneumonia. You can also get pneumonia by inhaling a liquid or chemical. People most at risk are older than 65 or younger than 2 years of age, or already have health problems.

Symptoms of pneumonia vary from mild to severe. See your doctor promptly if you

• Have a high fever
• Have shaking chills
• Have a cough with phlegm that doesn’t improve or gets worse
• Develop shortness of breath with normal daily activities
• Have chest pain when you breathe or cough
• Feel suddenly worse after a cold or the flu

Your doctor will use your medical history, a physical exam, and lab tests to diagnose pneumonia. Treatment depends on what kind you have. If bacteria are the cause, antibiotics should help. If you have viral pneumonia, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral medicine to treat it.

Preventing pneumonia is always better than treating it. Vaccines are available to prevent pneumococcal pneumonia and the flu. Other preventive measures include washing your hands frequently and not smoking.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

• Aspiration pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Atypical pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hospital-acquired pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Mycoplasma pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pneumonia – adults – discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pneumonia – children – community acquired (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Pneumonia – children – discharge (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Viral pneumonia (Medical Encyclopedia)

Viruses are very tiny germs. They are made of genetic material inside of a protein coating. Viruses cause familiar infectious diseases such as the common cold, flu and warts. They also cause severe illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, smallpox, and Ebola.

Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. This can kill, damage, or change the cells and make you sick. Different viruses attack certain cells in your body such as your liver, respiratory system, or blood.

When you get a virus, you may not always get sick from it. Your immune system may be able to fight it off.

For most viral infections, treatments can only help with symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight off the virus. Antibiotics do not work for viral infections. There are antiviral medicines to treat some viral infections. Vaccines can help prevent you from getting many viral diseases.

• ECHO virus (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Enterovirus D68 (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Hand-foot-mouth disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Herpangina (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Molluscum contagiosum (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Parainfluenza (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Roseola (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Zika virus disease (Medical Encyclopedia)