The lung inflammation and infection that makes breathing difficult is called pneumonia. Generally, pneumonia is easily treated at home and doesn't produce permanent lung damage. However, there are cases, in patients that are older than 65, in young children or in persons that suffer from other conditions, especially COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – that require hospitalization and careful medical monitoring. Walking pneumonia is a term attributed to the mild forms of pneumonia.
Pneumonia can be acquired anywhere: at school or at work – community based pneumonia – or in hospitals or nursing homes – nosocomial pneumonia. now we will discuss about the community based pneumonia.
For the treatment of pneumonia, doctors often use tetracyclines in otherwise healthy people, under the age of 60. Most causes of bacterial infections of the lower respiratory tract are well dealt with, by the tetracyclines. Tetracyclines may also be a substitute for macrolides in case the patient is allergic to it.
Streptococcus pneumoniae bacterium, the most common one that causes pneumonia, is resistant to doxycycline.
Generally, all types of antibiotics have an increased rate of curing pneumonia. Those rates range from 73 to 96 percents for people treated in hospitals and above 90 percents for people treated outside hospitals.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Chlamydial pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria can be killed by tetracyclines. Yet, there are strains of bacteria that are resistant to tetracyclines.
Improvement should be seen within 2 or 3 days from the beginning of the treatment. Usually, antibiotics are prescribed by the doctors for the bacterial pneumonia, the most common forms encountered. The treatment isn't changed unless the condition worsens or shows no improve and is taken in 5-14 days or even more if the patient has an affected immune system.
Tetracyclines side effects may include:
Tetracyclines are usually cheaper than other antibiotics and as in all the other antibiotics' cases; there may be strains of bacteria that are resistant to them.
The medication absorption into the body may be affected by dietary products like milk and cheese.