Important signs of pneumonia
Most people who develop pneumonia initially have symptoms of a cold (upper respiratory infection, for example, sneezing, sore throat, cough), which are then followed by a high fever (sometimes as high as 104 F), shaking chills, and a cough with sputum production. Factors that determine the severity of signs of pneumonia include the following: type and strength of chemical, exposure environment – Indoors, outdoors, hot, cold, length of exposure – Seconds, minutes, hours, form of chemical – Gas, vapor, particulate, liquid, protective measures used, prior medical condition, your age.
The patient may be made more susceptible to infection because of an overall impairment of the immune response (eg, human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] infection, chronic disease, advanced age) and/or dysfunction of defense mechanisms (eg, smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], tumors, inhaled toxins, aspiration).
Categorised as: General