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Enhancing Healthcare Team Outcomes
The management of pneumonia requires an interprofessional team. The reason is that most patients are managed as outpatients, but if not properly treated, the morbidity and mortality are high.
Besides administering antibiotics, these patients often require chest physical therapy, a dietary consult, physical therapy to help regain muscle mass, and a dental consult. The key is to educate the patient on the discontinuation of smoking and abstaining from alcohol.
Patients need to be referred to a dietitian to ensure that they are eating healthy.
Further, the clinicians should encourage patients to get appropriate influenza and pneumococcal vaccines. The pharmacist should teach about antibiotic compliance and ensure that the patient is prescribed the right antibiotics aimed at the target organism. An infectious disease specialty-trained pharmacist is particularly helpful in assisting the team with difficult antibiotic treatment choices. Nursing can counsel on the appropriate dosing and administration of medications and answer patient questions, as well as charting treatment progress, and reporting any issues to the clinician managing the case.
Finally, it is important to educate the patient to follow up with clinicians if they want a complete resolution of the infectious process. Only with open communication between the interprofessional team can the morbidity of pneumonia be lowered.
Outcomes
Taking Care Of Yourself At Home
If you have a bacterial chest infection, you should start to feel better 24 to 48 hours after starting on antibiotics. You may have a cough for days or weeks. For other types of chest infections, the recovery is more gradual. You may feel weak for some time and need a longer period of bed rest.Be guided by your doctor, but general self-care suggestions include:
- Take your medication as directed. Even if you feel better, finish the course of antibiotics.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Rest for a few days.
- Prop yourself up on a couple of pillows at night it will make it easier to sleep.
- Stop smoking, at least until you feel better, if you cant give up at this stage.
- Contact your local doctor if you have any concerns or questions.
- Go straight to your local doctor or the nearest hospital emergency department if you have trouble breathing, have a high fever or feel worse.
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How To Stay Safe
Given that COVID-19 is a respiratory illness just as pneumonia is, it is important to do your best to minimize your risk of contracting COVID-19, which could potentially cause severe respiratory complications.
The same precautions youve been taking to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic will, of course, keep you safe from developing pneumonia secondary to COVID-19, too. Be diligent about wearing a well-fitting mask, social distancing, and washing your hands.
A few other tips to keep in mind for recovery from pneumonia are to:
- Control your fever with NSAIDs or acetaminophen .
- Drink plenty of fluids to help loosen secretions and to cough up phlegm.
- Avoid taking cough medicines before talking to your healthcare provider first because coughing is one of the ways your body is working to get rid of the pneumonia infection.
- Drink warm beverages like tea or hot water.
- Use a humidifier, and take steamy baths or showers to help open your airway and ease your breathing.
- Stay away from smoke to allow your lungs to heal themselves. If you are a smoker, this would be a good time to think about quitting.
- Get rest. Stay home and take it easy for a while until you feel better and stronger.
These are all things you can do from the safety and comfort of your own home. Taking care of yourself and seeking medical care as needed can help keep you safe from COVID-19.
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Can You Catch Pneumonia More Than Once
Yes. Pneumonia is caused by many different microbes, and so getting it once does not protect you from getting it again. If you get pneumonia more than once you may need to have more investigations to understand why this has happened. It could be due to a problem in your chest or your immune system, and you may be referred to a specialist.
How Can I Help Myself Feel Better
If your doctor has prescribed medicine, follow the directions carefully.
You may feel better in a room with a humidifier, which increases the moisture in the air and soothes irritated lungs. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids, especially if you have a fever. If you have a fever and feel uncomfortable, ask the doctor whether you can take over-the-counter medicine such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring it down. But don’t take any medicine without checking first with your doctor a cough suppressant, for example, may not allow your lungs to clear themselves of mucus.
And finally, be sure to rest. This is a good time to sleep, watch TV, read, and lay low. If you treat your body right, it will repair itself and you’ll be back to normal in no time.
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How Do People Get Acute Bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is spread from person to person by coughing. The viruses that cause the infection are sprayed into the air or onto peopleâs hands when they cough. You can catch acute bronchitis if you breathe in the viruses or touch hands coated with these viruses.
You are more likely to get acute bronchitis if your bronchial tree is already damaged. Cigarette smoking or being around damaging fumes can break down your bodyâs defense against infection. People who smoke are more likely to get acute bronchitis and to have it longer. If you stop smoking, you are less likely to get acute bronchitis in the future.
How Long Does It Last
It takes a certain amount of time to start to feel sick after getting exposed to a germ. This length of time is called the incubation period, and it depends on many things, especially which bug is causing the illness.
With influenza pneumonia, for example, someone may become sick as soon as 12 hours or as long as 3 days after exposure to the flu virus. But with walking pneumonia, a person may not feel it until 2 to 3 weeks after becoming infected.
Most types of pneumonia clear up within a week or two, although a cough can linger for several weeks more. In severe cases, it may take longer to completely recover.
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How Do You Get A Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a serious lung infection that can be fatal sometimes. You may suffer from fever, cough and breath shortness. It can be treated at home in its initial stages. Small children and older adults can become very sick and need to be in the hospital. It is a condition in which the microscopic air sacks alveoli get swollen. It is caused by the bacteria and viruses spreading infection. In this article we will tell you how do you get a pneumonia? There are numerous reasons to get a pneumonia, but we have discussed the major ones.
Symptoms of Pneumonia
Types of Pneumonia
1.) Walking Pneumonia
It is the type of bacterial pneumonia, which is in its initial stages. It has symptoms like cold and cough.
- Low-grade fever
- Loss of appetite
2.) Bacterial Pneumonia
Bacteria are the major cause of pneumonia in adults. Bacterial pneumonia is usually followed by the viral infection like the flu or a cold. It affects the major area of the lung and is known as lobar pneumonia.
- Chills
- High fever
3.) Viral Pneumonia
Viral pneumonia is the major cause of pneumonia for children under age 10. Viral pneumonias normally clear up in one to two weeks, but it increases the risk of bacterial pneumonia. Viral pneumonia is not fatal like the bacterial pneumonia.
- Shortness of Breath
4.) Fungal Pneumonia
Fungal Pneumonia is caused to those who have a weak immune system. It has symptoms of common cold and flu. The weak immune system makes the pneumonia more dangerous and sometimes fatal.
Can Pneumonia Be Prevented
Check with your healthcare provider about getting immunizations. The flu is a common cause of pneumonia. Because of that, getting a flu shot every year can help prevent both the flu and pneumonia.
There is also a pneumococcal vaccine. It will protect you from a common form of bacterial pneumonia. Children younger than age 5 and adults ages 65 and older should get this shot.
The pneumococcal shot is also recommended for all children and adults who are at increased risk of pneumococcal disease due to other health conditions.
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How Is Viral Pneumonia Treated
Viral pneumonias are more likely to be treated at home, and not at the hospital.
Viral pneumonia caused by the flu can be treated with an antiviral medication called Tamiflu , but for many other viral pneumonias, your doctor can only treat the symptoms. This means drinking lots of fluids, eating well, resting, taking medication for pain or fever, and treating breathing difficulties.
Viral pneumonia may take one to three weeks to clear completely.
Mycoplasmal pneumonia is caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, which was originally thought to be a virus or a fungus, but has since been classified as a bacteria. Also called atypical pneumonia, its a mild and common type thats most likely to affect children and young adults.
This type of pneumonia can be treated with several types of antibiotics, and usually doesnt require hospitalization.
When Should Someone Seek Medical Care For Bacterial Pneumonia
When to call the doctor
- If you have a fever and cough up yellow, green, or brown sputum, make an appointment with your doctor.
- If you have shortness of breath, chest pain, or confusion, you should seek emergency care.
- If you are healthy, you can safely make an appointment to see your doctor. It is best to contact your physician if you have concerns about possible pneumonia.
When to go to the hospital
- If you have shortness of breath, you should always seek emergency care. Shortness of breath is not simply the feeling that you can’t take a full breath shortness of breath means that you cannot take in enough air to meet your body’s needs. It is a potentially serious symptom and always requires a visit to an emergency department, no matter how healthy you are.
- If you have chest pain or confusion, you should seek emergency care.
- You are at higher risk of developing pneumonia if you have the following:
- a chronic health problem, such as diabetes
- a poor immune system because of HIV, AIDS, steroid use, or immune-suppressant medications
- diseased or damaged lungs, such as with asthma or emphysema
- are very young or very old
- or you have had your spleen removed.
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How Do You Catch Walking Pneumonia
Walking pneumonia is often caused by bacteria or viruses. Most commonly a bacteria called mycoplasma pneumoniae is responsible for the infection. The infection is often caused by inhaling airborne droplets of water that are contaminated with the bacteria or virus when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These bacteria and viruses then infect your nose, throat, windpipe and lungs.
Thats why children and younger adults develop it most often the infection spreads easily in crowded environments like schools and college dormitories. But walking pneumonia can also hit nursing homes.
Youll usually start feeling symptoms within two weeks of exposure, but the bacteria can incubate for up to a month and youre contagious during that incubation period. Over about four days, the symptoms gradually worsen and include:
- Fatigue.
So Hows That Different Than Regular Pneumonia
Pneumonia is generally a more serious lung infection. It can also be caused by bacteria or viruses .
No matter the cause, the infection causes your immune system to fill the air sacs in the lungs with mucus, pus, and other fluids. This makes it difficult for oxygen to reach your blood.
Though the symptoms of bacterial pneumonia and viral pneumonia arent exactly the same, Dr. Chaisson says both tend to cause shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and feeling more tired than usual.
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Symptoms Of Chest Infections
Pneumonia is more common in winter and spring. It can strike suddenly or come on slowly over a few days. The symptoms will depend on your age, the cause and severity of the infection, and any other medical problems you may have. Symptoms include:
- Fast or difficult breathing
- Coughing with brown or green-coloured phlegm
- Fever
- Blue colour around the lips
- Stomach pain
- A child may vomit, have diarrhoea and be irritable or lethargic.
How Is Bacterial Pneumonia Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider will ask about your signs and symptoms and examine you. You may need any of the following tests:
- Pulse oximetry measures the amount of oxygen in your blood.
- Blood tests are used to check for infection.
- A chest x-ray may show signs of infection in your lungs.
- A mucus sample is collected and tested for the germ that is causing your illness. It can help your healthcare provider choose the best medicine to treat the infection.
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How To Get Rid Of Fluids In The Lungs From Pneumonia
Except in cases of small amounts of fluids in the lungs, it is important to get that fluid drained. To be more specific, if the layer of fluids in the lungs is higher than 10mm with the patient lying down, it needs to be drained. The longer the fluids stay in your chest, the higher the chances of complications.
If there are only a moderate amount of fluids, and the fluids are flowing freely, they can be simply drained with a small needle. These days, it is customary to use an ultrasound or CT scan to visualize the path of the needle to make sure it is going to the right spot. With continued antibiotics, a one-time drainage may be enough for a small, uncomplicated fluid buildup from pneumonia.
After getting the fluids drained, they are sent to the lab for a chemical analysis and a culture. The results will help guide further treatment.
For more thicker fluids with pockets of pus, more invasive surgical options may need to be considered. A procedure called thoracoscopy is usually performed first. They use a flexible scope with a camera to look into the pleural space. This is space where the fluid in the lungs builds up. They insert the tube through a small cut in-between the ribs. Once it is in place, they can suck the fluid out. They can also cut and break down fibers to open up pockets of trapped fluids and drain those as well.
References:
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Can Pneumonia Be Prevented Or Avoided
There are many factors that can raise your risk for developing pneumonia. These include:
People who have any of the following conditions are also at increased risk:
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- asthma
- sickle cell disease
You can help prevent pneumonia by doing the following:
- Get the flu vaccine each year. People can develop bacterial pneumonia after a case of the flu. You can reduce this risk by getting the yearly flu shot.
- Get the pneumococcal vaccine. This helps prevent pneumonia caused by pneumococcal bacteria.
- Practice good hygiene. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
- Dont smoke. Smoking damages your lungs and makes it harder for your body to defend itself from germs and disease. If you smoke, talk to your family doctor about quitting as soon as possible.
- Practice a healthy lifestyle. Eat a balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables. Exercise regularly. Get plenty of sleep. These things help your immune system stay strong.
- Avoid sick people. Being around people who are sick increases your risk of catching what they have.
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