Featured, General News, Health
By Austin Ejenike;
The average Nigerian believes that pneumonia is caused by unusual cold weather, but it has nothing to do with neither cold weather nor wet clothes.
In fact, pneumonia is an infection in your lungs that causes them to be filled with fluid. It is not contagious and a non-life-threatening illness.
You cannot technically catch the infection, but you can catch the bacteria, viruses, or fungi that typically cause it. However, it can be life threatening to children and young persons.
Dr Augustine Ekpe, a medical practitioner at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), told Realnews in an interview that Pneumonia is an infection and that most times, it may be bacteria originated Pneumonia or by a viral infection.
He explained that one should not confuse Pneumonia with Pneumonitis though in general term, it refers to inflammation of the lung tissue, which however, refers to noninfectious causes of lung inflammation, like chemical or inhaling certain substances.
Furthermore, he said that anyone can be infected, but individual in extreme ages, such as extreme young ones within the ages of 5 years and below and from the ages of 65 years and above, may be more at risk because they tend to have low immunity, while for the young ones, their immunity is still building up.
However, it can occur in other age groups when the immunity is low. It can also occur due to a certain sickness or improper dietary plan, or lack of required exercises to boost ones immunity.
Dr. Ekpe advised that one should try as much as possible to eat foods that will keep your immune system strong, saying that if your immune system is strong, it could fight off such infections without you noticing or feeling any symptoms.
There are many possible ways to get pneumonia:
Breathing infected air particles into your lungs
Breathing certain bacteria from your nose and the throat into your lungs
During or after a viral upper respiratory infection, such as a cold or the flu
Breathing large amounts of food, gastric juices, or vomit into the lungs (aspiration pneumonia)
You could even suffer from pneumonia as a complication of a viral illness, such as chickenpox.
It isn’t unusual for a healthy person’s nose or throat to contain pneumonia-causing bacteria or viruses. When these bacteria or viruses spread to your lungs, you are more likely to get pneumonia.
Some of the probable symptom of pneumonia:
High fever
Shaking chills
Cough with phlegm
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Feeling suddenly worse after a cold or the flu.
-Nov 12, 2019 @12:52 GMT |
Tags: What You Should Know About Pneumonia
