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Types of Lung Infections
Symptoms of lung infections may begin with a simple persistent cough or difficulty in breathing, according to Merck. Lung infections need medical treatment with anti-infective drugs in order to restore normal breathing capabilities. Some lung infections have serious complications, including death. Difficulty in breathing or a cough lasting more than three weeks needs to be investigated by a health care professional.
If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.
Tuberculosis
A sufferer of TB looks sick with muscle wasting, weight loss, poor muscle tone and dry flaky skin. TB lesions inside the lungs make breathing difficult and produce sputum often green or blood-tinged. The treatment for TB lung infection extends into months and requires medications that can be quite expensive. Anyone living with a TB sufferer must also be treated to prevent infection of the disease. People can carry the TB virus for years without ever developing tuberculosis.
- A sufferer of TB looks sick with muscle wasting, weight loss, poor muscle tone and dry flaky skin.
- The treatment for TB lung infection extends into months and requires medications that can be quite expensive.
SARS
Causes of Cough in AIDS and HIV
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The symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, include:
- high fever
- headache
- overall feeling of malaise
- cough that usually progresses to pneumonia
The SARS virus spreads from person to person through droplet transmission from the infected person to the mucus membranes of another person. The SARS lung infection is an infection of "close contact" meaning it can be contracted less than three feet away from a person infected with the illness, reports the CDC.
Bronchitis
Often referred to as a chest cold or upper respiratory infection, bronchitis affects more smokers than non-smokers. Characterized by thick, yellow and sometimes green-tinged mucus, the cough from this lung infection can last several weeks. A cough from chronic bronchitis can last up to two years. Chronic bronchitis is also one of the three lung disorders that make up the diagnosis of COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Often referred to as a chest cold or upper respiratory infection, bronchitis affects more smokers than non-smokers.
- Characterized by thick, yellow and sometimes green-tinged mucus, the cough from this lung infection can last several weeks.
Pneumonia
Causes of a High Fever and Runny Nose
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Pneumonia often begins as a consequence of the flu. Persons with compromised lung functioning are at especially high risk for development of pneumonia. Symptoms of this inflammation of the lungs include:
- high fever
- shortness of breath
- painful breathing
- chills
- overall malaise
- cough
- according to Judith Schilling McCann in the text "Pathophysiology." The bacteria that causes strep throat is also associated with bacterial pneumonia, the most common form of this lung infection
- Pneumonia often begins as a consequence of the flu.
- Symptoms of this inflammation of the lungs include: * high fever
* shortness of breath
* painful breathing
* chills
* overall malaise
* cough
* according to Judith Schilling McCann in the text "Pathophysiology."
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References
- World Health Organization: Cumulative Number of Reported Probable Cases
- "Pathophysiology: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses"; Judith A. Schilling McCann; 2005
- Walters JA, Tang JN, Poole P, Wood-baker R. Pneumococcal vaccines for preventing pneumonia in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;1:CD001390. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001390.pub4
- Cleveland Clinic. Pneumonia. Updated September 10, 2019.
- Periselneris J, Armstrong-James D. Invasive and chronic fungal lung infections. Ann Res Hosp. 2017;1:42. doi:10.21037/arh.2017.09.04
- Penn Medicine. Could it be pneumonia? Updated December 8, 2017.
- Miravitlles M, Ribera A. Understanding the impact of symptoms on the burden of COPD. Respir Res. 2017;18(1):67. doi:10.1186/s12931-017-0548-3
- Harvard Health Publishing. Cracking the cough code: recognize cough symptoms so you know when to seek treatment. Published September 2018.
- American Lung Association. Pneumonia symptoms and diagnosis. Updated September 20, 2019.
- Reamy BV, Williams PM, Odom MR. Pleuritic chest pain: sorting through the differential diagnosis. Am Fam Physician. 2017;96(5):306-312.
- McMullen SM, Patrick W. Cyanosis. Am J Med Sci. 2013;126(3):210-212. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2012.11.004
- Quaderi SA, Hurst JR. The unmet global burden of COPD. Glob Health Epidemiol Genom. 2018;3:e4. doi:10.1017/gheg.2018.1
- Urso B, Michaels S. Differentiation of lung cancer, empyema, and abscess through the investigation of a dry cough. Cureus. 2016;8(11):e896. doi:10.7759/cureus.896
- Kuhajda I, Zarogoulidis K, Tsirgogianni K, et al. Lung abscess-etiology, diagnostic and treatment options. Ann Transl Med. 2015;3(13):183. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.07.08
- American Lung Association. Pneumonia treatment and recovery. Updated June 26, 2019.
- American Lung Association. Pneumonia. 2019. Lung.org.
- COPD Foundation. Staying Healthy and Avoiding Pneumonia.
Writer Bio
Gloria Attar is a registered nurse specializing in cardiac critical care. She has been a professional writer since 1983, covering health care, wellness and nutrition topics. Attar earned her Bachelor of Science in nursing from Kent State University.