Everything You Need To Know About Pneumonia

Everything you need to know about pneumonia

Why Pneumonia?

Thousands on children in India die every year, pneumonia being the primary cause of such infant deaths. Not just children, this dreadful disease has managed to find it’s existence in the adult population of the nation and it’s consequences are on the rise. Given the fatality this condition harbours, it’s the need of the hour for promoting all the necessary information about pneumonia, chiefly it’s prevention. With that intent, here’s the summary of everything you need to know about pneumonia!

How does it present?

The primary target of this disease has always been children. Most of the infant deaths reported point out to a single cause- pneumonia! The affected child rejects drinking, eating, develops blue skin, may have convulsions or may even show typical symptoms of pneumonia including fever, cough, etc. Adults show the typical symptoms such as high grade fever, cough, chest pain, etc. Certain bacterial infections can also cause stomach pain, vomiting etc. If untreated , all these symptoms may complicate and may even result in death.

How does pneumonia spread ?

Pneumonia can be caused by variant types of bacteria, viruses, fungi and even certain drugs at times, bacterial cause being the most common. Prevention lies at avoiding frequent interaction with these pathogens. Lower socio economic strata of the nation deals with multiple real life issues including

- - Short room space

- - More number of family members in a smaller area

- - Lack of hygiene

- - Lack of health knowledge

Not just a disease of the lower class, pneumonia is also commonly associated with the middle and the higher class of the society. This can be majorly attributed to smoking cigarettes, weed, hookah, etc. Smoking has been an emerging trend in the day’s youth and has therefore been necessarily implied in pneumonia.

The basic mechanism that encourages pneumonia via all these mechanism is

LOWERED IMMUNITY :

- 1.hen more than necessary number of people stay in a rather restricted area, wherein there’s relatively more exposure to the pathogenic flora, then at a place with a rather normal area for number of occupants, the exposure increases.

- 2. Lack of hygiene adds up to increased exposure of pathogenic bacteria to one, thus exacerbating the immunity further

- 3. Lack of knowledge promotes lack of hygiene , thus setting in a vicious cycle

- 4. Smoking degrades the good molecules in the lung and renders one more susceptible to this deadly infection

How to prevent it?

World pneumonia day, established on the 12^th November of every year , by the World Health Organisation strives to work on the concept of Information, Education and Communication of this disease. Basic causes for pneumonia spread and the need to arrest these causes is the primary protocol of information. The basic measures advocated are

1.CESATION OF SMOKING