The symptoms of pneumonia often will depend on its cause. All types of pneumonia will nevertheless show common symptoms like chest pain, fever and cough. Pneumonia caused by viruses account for more than a half of all pneumonia cases and is termed viral pneumonia.
The symptoms of viral pneumonia include:
- An overall feeling of exhaustion and weakness of the sufferer
- A dry cough
- A chest pain that is accompanied by fever and headache
When pneumonia is caused by bacteria some of its symptoms can consist of:
- Bluish color of the skin
- A green liquid expelled during cough
- High fever
- A general feeling of cold that leads to shivering and a rapid heart beat
Young children and older people are the age groups that are at high risk for developing pneumonia. Older people are likely to get bacterial or viral pneumonia while people 40 years and lower usually catch what is called mycoplasmal pneumonia. Mycoplasmal pneumonia is quite contagious and when a person catches it, can easily infect the other members of his family. This type of pneumonia, however, is not as likely to cause serious complications compared to the other two types of pneumonia. Some of the typical symptoms of mycoplasmal pneumonia include:
- Pain in the joints
- An overall feeling of fatigue and weakness
- Sore throat
- Dry cough along with fever
Young children affected by pneumonia tend to become very sick (often having trouble breathing and high fever). The pneumonia also causes their skin to turn a light shade of blue.
If you exhibit two or more of the aforementioned symptoms of pneumonia, you may need to get in touch with your doctor for treatment as soon as possible to avoid possible and serious complications. A symptom of coughing up blood means that your pneumonia has progressed to a more serious level and entails immediate treatment. An early detection of pneumonia can mean easy treatment with some antibiotics; if the patient has an advanced type of pneumonia, he will need immediate hospitalization.
Ni Nan Gilbert is a licensed acupuncturist in Bellmore, NY. She is also the founder of Ni Nan Healing Art Center.
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