A cough that produces green, yellow, or bloody mucus is the most common symptom of pneumonia. Other symptoms include fever, shaking chills, shortness of breath, low energy, and extreme tiredness. Pneumonia can often be diagnosed with a thorough history and physical exam.
Early symptoms are similar to influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle pain, and weakness. Within a day or two, the symptoms typically get worse, with increasing cough, shortness of breath and muscle pain. There may be a high fever and there may be blueness of the lips.
Stage one: Congestion. The first stage of pneumonia occurs around 24 hours after developing an infection in the lungs. It also lasts for about 24 hours. During the congestion stage, the bacteria or virus has taken hold in the lungs and caused an infection.
You can get pneumonia in one or both lungs. You can also have it and not know it. Doctors call this walking pneumonia. Causes include bacteria, viruses, and fungi.
Pneumonia caused by a virus cannot be treated with antibiotics. Viral pneumonia usually goes away on its own.
Bacterial pneumonia is more serious and often results in a gurgling sound when breathing and mucus or phlegm when coughing. If you are experiencing a cough and are concerned that it may be pneumonia, reach out to your doctor.
When to go to the ER with pneumonia. Anyone who is having trouble breathing or other severe symptoms should immediately be taken to the ER. Additionally, people in these groups who are experiencing pneumonia-like symptoms should come to the ER: Infants and small children.
See your doctor to rule out pneumonia if shortness of breath, cough, or chest congestion also develop. Seek emergency care at a Dignity Health ER or urgent care clinic for the following symptoms: Bluish color of the lips or fingernails. Confusion or lethargy.
Symptoms usually appear within two to three weeks of becoming infected and can continue for weeks. A cough could continue for months. With walking pneumonia, you may feel like you have a cold. But symptoms are usually mild, so you likely won't need bed rest or a hospital stay.
Don't try to run back to work and infect everyone else. Rest until you feel better. Whatever you do, don't smoke, it will only make your pneumonia worse. If your pneumonia is really severe or you have another serious health problem, your doctor may recommend that you get treated in the hospital.
Walking pneumonia symptoms include: Dry cough that's persistent and typically gets worse at night.
If your provider thinks you have pneumonia, he or she may do one or more of the following tests. A chest X-ray looks for inflammation in your lungs. A chest X-ray is often used to diagnose pneumonia. Blood tests, such as a complete blood count (CBC) see whether your immune system is fighting an infection.
Symptoms of pneumonia can start suddenly or gradually over a few days. They include: a cough – you may cough up yellow or green mucus (phlegm) shortness of breath.
Pneumonia is classified as severe when the heart, the kidneys or the circulatory system are at risk of failing, or if the lungs can no longer take in enough oxygen.
The fourth and final stage, called resolution (day 7-10), is characterized by resorption of inflammatory fluids and cellular debris and restoration of the normal airways and air-sacs. Residual inflammation may lead to chronic narrowing of airways and scar tissue (pleural adhesions).
Sleeping with your head elevated can reduce coughing and improve breathing. Use an extra pillow or a wedge pillow to elevate your head and chest while sleeping. Dehydration can make pneumonia symptoms worse and make it harder to sleep. Be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
Often viral cases of pneumonia begin as congestion and cough with or without fever in the first few days. When a doctor listens to the lungs and finds breathing sounds are not clear on either side of the chest, a viral cause over bacterial is even more highly suspected.
What is the most common complication of pneumonia? Acute respiratory distress (ARDS) and respiratory failure are the most common complications of serious pneumonia.
Coughing is a common symptom of all three illnesses, but a specific type of cough indicates pneumonia. A pneumonia-derived cough is persistent, worsening, and classically blood-tinged if bacterial, but viral pneumonia typically causes a nonproductive cough.
Bronchitis and pneumonia can both cause coughing, chest congestion, and chills. But while bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial tubes, which carry air into the lungs, pneumonia is an infection in the alveoli, the air sacs where oxygen passes into the bloodstream.
Is Pneumonia Contagious? Yes, some types of pneumonia are contagious, meaning it spreads from person to person. Pneumonia is mostly spread when people infected cough, sneeze or talk, sending respiratory droplets into the air. These droplets can then be inhaled by close contacts.