Pneumonia is an acute inflammation of the lower respiratory tract caused by an infection. In the course of the disease, lung tissue is often also affected. In our country, according to official statistics, more than a million people fall ill with pneumonia every year. And no matter how much medicine has progressed today, the death rate from pneumonia is still within five percent.
Species of pneumonia
In order to unequivocally answer the question of how you can 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 that accompanies complications, so this type of pneumonia is not contagious.
The second type is focal. This is an acute disease, the zone of foci of which is located in one, less often several places in the lungs. Doctorsshare bilateral, left- or right-sided focal pneumonia. This species is especially dangerous. First, it is definitely contagious. Secondly, the disease proceeds without manifesting itself either externally or internally.
The third type is community-acquired (atypical) pneumonia. Sometimes it is called viral. It occurs due to damage to the tissues of the lungs by an infectious-bacterial route. The causative agents are multiple viruses, chlamydia, salmonella, legionella, mycoplasma and other atypical types of pathogens.
Is this type of pneumonia dangerous? Yes. But the infected person develops a completely different inflammatory disease caused by a pathogen that has entered the respiratory tract.
The fourth type is basal pneumonia. Acute infectious and inflammatory disease, which is difficult to diagnose. How do you get pneumonia of this type? Airborne way. Picking up the basal look is easy enough, especially for kids.
The fifth type is chronic pneumonia. A completely natural form of advanced disease. The usual acute form without exposure to drugs becomes chronic. Highly contagious.
The sixth type is bronchial pneumonia. The disease begins with bacteria and specific viruses entering the respiratory tract. It differs from the atypical type of pneumonia in the localization of foci of the inflammatory process. Only the alveoli of the bronchi are affected. How do you get this type of pneumonia? Easier than simple: by airborne droplets. Just breathing in the air infectedspecific 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 transient. Then the complications begin. This species is very dangerous to others.
The eighth type is hospital-acquired pneumonia. No less dangerous than the previous species. A considerable part of the causative agents of this disease has developed resistance to most medications. Therefore, the healing process is complex and lengthy. This species is also very dangerous. The easiest way to "pick up" it is in the pulmonological or therapeutic departments of clinical hospitals or in polyclinics. Here's how you can get severe pneumonia.
How long is the infectious period
Until now, doctors consider this issue controversial. There is no single answer to the question of how long it takes to get pneumonia. There is some dependence on the subspecies of the disease, the age of the patient and other reasons.
If the average, 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 take into account that the absence of symptoms of the disease does not mean that the patient is not contagious. As long as pathogens continue to develop in the human body, it is considered potentially dangerous.
How people get pneumonia
Such symptoms of the disease as coughing and sneezing carry a large number of germs and viruses that are potentially harmful to others. he althy personone breath is enough to get the dose necessary for the disease. Over the next 4-6 days, an already sick person does not feel any changes. Sometimes a slight increase in body temperature is recorded. This route, called the airborne route, is the most common.
There is a household way of spreading this pathology. How do you get pneumonia in this case? A sick person, sneezing and coughing, spreads viruses and bacteria into the air mixture, which “fall” 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 has begun its development.
Perceived risk group
Any contagious type of pneumonia would probably be dangerous for:
- people with a low level of immunity;
- position women;
- children;
- people with drug or alcohol addiction;
- patients undergoing hormone therapy;
- people who are depressed or physically exhausted;
- only those who have been ill with colds, including SARS or acute respiratory infections;
- 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 he althy person finds it difficult to cope with them. Kids today are at constant risk. In an unfavorable ecological situation, children, especially those of kindergarten age, have a weakened immune system, which undoubtedly gives pneumonia a head start.
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. Here you need to see a doctor. Pneumonia for pregnant women is dangerous not only because of the birth of a sick baby and complications of the birth process.
Signs that give a reason to go to the doctor
How do you know if you have pneumonia? Enough to listen to yourself. First, unreasonable weakness appears and performance is significantly reduced. Then a fever may set in, with a temperature close to 400C. A day later, a cough with an abundance of sputum may occur. It will cause shortness of breath (even at rest), burning or pain in the chest.
Almost everyone has insomnia, decreased appetite, and fatigue.
With the physical method of diagnosis, the patient's wheezing is well audible (most often finely bubbling) and the sound is dulled 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, forcing the body to rebuild. And while adaptation is taking place, immunity is reduced and the person is ready to accept and develop the virus.
Today doctors withthey state with horror that it is also possible to get pneumonia in the summer, and with a high degree of probability. High atmospheric temperature and human carelessness favor this. Most families in our country use air conditioners, which, by cooling the air in the room, greatly dry it out. Such air is an excellent environment for the development of pathogenic microbes, and in particular Legionella. And further as on knurled. Intoxication of the body, sleep disturbance, apathy, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, painful expectorant cough with purulent secretions…
Post scriptum
A kiss with pneumonia is not as bad as a handshake!
