Walking pneumonia is a condition caused by mycoplasma bacterium. This condition is very easily spread in the air by coughing or sneezing and can affect any men or woman.
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The viruses that cause influenza are transmitted through air so their spreading is very easy. If one infected person sneezes or coughs, the virus can be spread to everyone around the infected person and also on the objects.
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Viral pneumonia is mainly caused by germs called virus, there are different kinds of germs even like the flu germs too are responsible for such infections.
Bacterial pneumonia usually comes during or after a respiratory infection, these are mainly flu or cold.
Bronchopneumonia is one of the two types of pneumonia that are caused by the bacteria; these are classified under the gross anatomic distribution of consolidation.
Chlamydia pneumoniae (TWAR) is a recently recognized and a new species of the organisms that cause pneumonia.
Pneumonia basically refers to any infection or inflammation caused in the respiratory tracts or the lungs.
Signs and symptoms of pneumonia
The signs and symptoms of pneumonia usually resemble to those of cold and influenza so the condition is a little harder to detect. Also, those signs and symptoms come in a great variety, making thus even harder to establish the type of pneumonia or the type of organism that infected the person.
- Bacterial pneumonia. There are many types of bacteria that can cause pneumonia. This condition can appear on its own or may develop after a viral upper respiratory infection like flu. In this case the signs and symptoms (shaking chills, a high fever, sweating, chest pain (pleurisy) and a cough that produces thick, greenish or yellow phlegm) will reveal suddenly and ironically, will be more severe in otherwise healthy people than in predisposed category of persons. Also, in older adults, the high fever may be replaced with a lower than normal temperature of the body.
- Viral pneumonia. There are more than ten different types of viruses that cause pneumonia. This condition is mostly met in winter and it is more severe in the cases of other cardiovascular or lung diseases. The first symptoms of this condition are dry cough, fever, headache, fatigue and muscle pain. The symptoms may worsen in time and a person may become breathless and develop a cough that produces whitish phlegm. In the case of a viral pneumonia, the risks of a second infection of bacterial nature are increased.
- Mycoplasma is a tiny bacterium that causes a milder form of pneumonia which presents symptoms and signs resembling to those of flu. The symptoms appear gradually and are similar to those of bacterial and viral pneumonia, only milder. This condition is not severe enough to keep one in bed or to determine him or her to seek medical assistance. It is called “walking pneumonia” and it affects mostly children and young adults, being spread easily in child-care facilities and schools. This condition is easily treated with antibiotics.
- Chlamydia pneumonia. This type of pneumonia is very common in school-age children and has symptoms resembling to those of mycoplasma. It responds well to antibiotics treatments but it can be particularly serious in the cases of older people. The bacterium that causes this condition is a different one from the bacterium that generates the sexually transmitted disease.
- Fungal pneumonia. Pneumonia can sometimes be caused by certain types of fungi. One of the most common fungi that causes it is histoplasma capsulatum, found in Ohio and Mississippi River valleys and spread by bird droppings. The symptoms vary in this type of pneumonia from a few if any, to acute or chronic pneumonia symptoms.
- Pneumonia caused by pneumocystis carinii is an opportunistic infection that affects most Americans suffering from AIDS. A higher risk to develop this type of condition is presented by people whose immune systems are compromised by organ transplants, chemotherapy, or treatment with corticosteroids or other immune-suppressing drugs such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. P. carinii is considered to be related to fungi nowadays, unlike in the past when it was thought to be a type of parasite. The signs and symptoms presented by PCP (pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) are trouble breathing, fever and coughing.
Monitoring and diagnosing pneumonia
The diagnosing of this condition will be made on the basis of a physical examination and medical history of the patient. The doctor listens through a stethoscope the sounds made by the lungs and searches for abnormal bubbling and cranking sounds called rales and rumblings (rhonchi) – sound that indicates the presence of thick liquid, which are possible signs of an infection.
The diagnosis may be also established by a chest X-ray, which will also establish the exact location of the infection and its extent. In cases where the immune system is impaired or the X-rays are not clear, a computerized tomography test will be taken.
Doctors may also require in some cases blood tests for white cell count or to find the virus or any other microorganisms that produced the disease and phlegm tests.