Side Effect: Pneumonia

What is Pneumonia?

Pneumonia is an infectious process cause by bacteria, viruses, or fungi that invade the lungs and impair oxygen exchange. The immune response to infection leads to fluid accumulation, which can be visualized on imaging studies and cause a variety of symptoms. Pneumonia can be classified as community acquired pneumonia (CAP) or hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP).

What does Pneumonia look like?

Some common symptoms of pneumonia include cough, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. On imaging, such as chest X-ray or CT scan, pneumonia appears as areas of opacity or consolidation in the lungs. The infection can be localized to specific areas of the lung, or it can be spread throughout the lungs.

Who gets Pneumonia?

Pneumonia can affect anyone, but certain groups are at higher risk are:

• Children under 5 years
• Adults over 65 years
• People with certain chronic diseases
  
  • Asthma
  • COPD
  • Diabetes
  • Heart disease
• Immunocompromised individuals
  
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Organ transplant recipients
  • Patients with cancer
• Lifestyle risk factors such as smoking or exposure to pollutants

How to prevent Pneumonia

Preventative strategies include:

• Vaccination
  
  • Pneumococcal vaccines (PPSV23 and PCV13)
  • Yearly influenza vaccine
• Good hand hygiene
• Avoiding smoking
• Healthy lifestyle
  
  • Proper nutrition
  • Regular exercise
  • Adequate sleep
• Use of preventive anti-infectives when indicated:
  
  • Antibiotics
    • Levofloxacin (Levaquin®)
    • Ciprofloxacin (Cipro®)
    • Moxifloxacin (Avalox®)
  • Antivirals
    • Acyclovir (Zovirax®)
    • Valacyclovir (Valtrex®)
  • Antifungals
    • Fluconazole (Diflucan®)
    • Voriconazole (Vfend®)
    • Posaconazole (Noxafil®)
    • Isavuconazole (Cresemba®)
  • Medications to prevent pneumocystis jirovecii
    • Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (Bactrim®)
    • Atovaquone (Mepron®)
    • Pentamidine (Pentam®)

How to treat Pneumonia

Pneumonia is typically treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and antifungal or antiviral agents may be added if fungal or viral pathogens are suspected. For CAP, patients can often times be treated outpatient, but some patients may need to be hospitalized depending on the severity of symptoms and risk factors. Patients with HAP often need intravenous (I.V.) therapy and need to be treated in the hospital initially and then transitioned to oral therapy to complete the treatment course outpatient.