We underestimate the severity of pneumonia

January 22, 2020 / BIOON / -- recently, a young patient named Dakota Allen spent six hours in the emergency room of St Luke's hospital He had been coughing for weeks before, but he never took it seriously "At the beginning, I didn't think the disease was serious I thought it might be early influenza Then start coughing regularly Then I went to the local drugstore and was diagnosed with pneumonia for the first time " Unfortunately, antibiotic treatment did not work According to the American Thoracic Society, about one million adults are hospitalized with pneumonia every year in the United States, 50000 of whom die of lung infection Although there are no obvious seasonal characteristics, influenza and pneumonia often occur at the same time in the flu season In this year's flu season, the Kansas Department of health and environment reported 15 flu deaths and 529 pneumonia deaths "If you look at pneumonia alone, it's much more serious than a common flu or cold, because the number of hospitalizations and deaths is higher." "Pneumonia is the second most lethal infectious disease and the second most common cause of hospitalization," said raghavandra Adiga, an infectious disease expert and chief medical officer at liberty hospital "How can I tell if I have pneumonia?" According to the chest Association, anyone is at risk of pneumonia Half of adults hospitalized with severe pneumonia in the United States are between the ages of 18 and 57 "Although the risk of pneumonia in healthy young people is lower than in other age groups, it is always a threat It's even worse for infants, children, people over 65, and people in poor health or with a weak immune system, "said Mayo cilnic According to doctors, patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, heart failure and other diseases that damage the health of the immune system are at risk for pneumonia Other high-risk groups include transplant patients who have received chemotherapy and cancer patients In addition, for smokers, they have a relatively high risk of pneumonia " "Don't ignore chest pain" in the early days, people may not know they have pneumonia According to the Mayo Clinic, early symptoms of pneumonia are very similar to flu or common cold, but last longer This similarity can even confuse professionals However, pneumonia also has chest pain, expectoration, fever, shortness of breath and other related symptoms To distinguish their own causes, we need to carefully identify the above symptoms Unlike body pain caused by flu, pneumonia is accompanied by chest pain from deep breathing, doctors say Therefore, if you feel pain in a certain area of the chest, you should go to the hospital in time for diagnosis "Be aware of your physical condition in time" in the early stage of the disease, Allen tried to suppress the disease by taking Zithromax z-pak antibiotics, but the symptoms of expectoration and chest distress did not abate In the end, Allen was rushed to St Luke's Hospital for treatment because of severe physical exhaustion Here, he was treated with steroids and assisted breathing, and an X-ray revealed two spots in his right lung So far, Allen has been confirmed to have pneumonia According to doctors, just having a cough doesn't mean having pneumonia The only way to diagnose pneumonia is to have a chest X-ray This is almost the gold standard The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends two vaccines for high-risk groups to help prevent pneumonia caused by pneumococcal infection Among them, CDC recommends that pcv13 vaccine be applied to all children under 2 years old and children over 2 years old with some diseases CDC also recommends ppsv23 vaccine to all adults over 65, adults between 2 and 64 years old with certain diseases, and smokers between 19 and 64 years old In addition, good health habits can also help prevent pneumonia In general, "stay away from the infected" is the ultimate rule to avoid being infected Practice good breathing habits Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing Throw away every time you brush your mouth or nose, and wash your hands with hand sanitizer If you feel unwell, you need to see a doctor in time Finally, for smokers, quitting smoking is also crucial to prevent pneumonia What you don't know about pneumatia: it is the 'big killer' for people of any age