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Read articlePneumonia is infection of the lung tissue, causing fever, cough and breathlessness. It is usually treatable at home in healthy adults, but it can be dangerous in infants, the elderly, and people with diabetes, COPD or kidney disease.
Symptoms
Not everyone gets every symptom, and the pattern can differ in older people, in people with diabetes and in children. These are the ones most often reported.
- Fever with chills and shivering
- Cough with yellow, green or rust-coloured sputum
- Breathlessness and rapid breathing
- Chest pain that is sharp and worse on deep breathing or coughing
- Marked weakness, poor appetite and body ache
- Confusion or a fall as the first sign in an elderly patient
When to see a doctor
Do not wait these out
If any of the following applies, arrange to be seen the same day. For anything sudden or severe, call 9281862028 or come straight to the emergency department at SIMS — it is open 24 hours and does not need an appointment.
- Breathlessness at rest, fast breathing, or blue lips — attend the emergency department
- Fever with chest pain in a person with diabetes, COPD, kidney disease or immunosuppression
- Fever not settling after three days of treatment
- Fast breathing or chest indrawing in a child, or reduced feeding in an infant
Tests that may be advised
Your consultant will order only the investigations that change the plan. Most of the following are available on the SIMS campus, so results usually come back the same visit.
- Chest X-ray
- Complete blood count and inflammatory markers
- Pulse oximetry, and arterial blood gas if oxygen is low
- Sputum examination and culture, including testing for tuberculosis
- Blood sugar, kidney function and blood culture in unwell patients
How it is treated
Treatment is decided case by case — by how advanced the problem is, what else you are being treated for, and what you can realistically sustain. Broadly, it involves the following.
- Antibiotics chosen by severity and risk, completed in full
- Oxygen and intravenous fluids for patients who need admission
- Fever control, chest physiotherapy and adequate hydration
- Intensive care with ventilator support for severe pneumonia and respiratory failure
- Follow-up chest X-ray where resolution is slow, and vaccination advice for high-risk groups
This page is general information, not a diagnosis
Pneumonia can look like several other conditions, and the reverse is equally true. Nothing here can replace an examination, your test results and the judgement of the doctor treating you — and no medicine mentioned by name to a friend or relative should be started on the strength of this page. If you recognise yourself in it, book a consultation with the Pulmonology department. If a symptom is sudden or severe, call 9281862028.