Pneumonia is a contagious disease that can be found throughout the year but often spreads heavily during weather changes such as the rainy and winter seasons!! This is because it is the time when many people catch colds, leading to reduced immunity, making it easier to get sick. Most people usually contract the disease from exposure to infected individuals. Therefore, this disease poses a particularly high risk for people living in crowded communities.
How does pneumonia occur?
Pneumonia can be caused by infectious or non-infectious factors, but it is more commonly caused by infections. These infections include bacteria, viruses, and fungi, which enter the body through the respiratory tract. If you inhale these pathogens when your body is weak or your immune system is low, symptoms will appear. The severity of the disease depends on the patient’s physical condition. People with underlying diseases or other illnesses tend to have more severe symptoms than those who are generally healthy.
Symptoms indicating you may have this disease
- Group with clear symptoms: Symptoms appear within 1-2 days and worsen rapidly. Common symptoms include fever, chills, cough with green or yellow phlegm or blood-tinged sputum, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest pain especially when coughing or taking deep breaths.
- Group with unclear symptoms: Symptoms develop slowly over 1-2 weeks before clear pneumonia symptoms appear. Some people have cold-like symptoms with low-grade fever or no fever, headache, body aches, joint pain, possible abdominal pain, fatigue, and weakness.
Did you know? Pneumonia can be prevented
Although pneumonia seems severe… nowadays there is a “preventive vaccine” for pneumonia-causing pathogens!!! Therefore, if you or your family members are in a high-risk group, you should get vaccinated before the disease occurs.
Check if you are in a high-risk group
- People over 65 years old
- People with immune system abnormalities due to medications such as steroids, immunosuppressants, certain anticancer drugs, or radiation therapy, as well as those with diseases such as kidney failure, cancer, absence or malfunction of the spleen, organ or bone marrow transplant recipients, HIV infection
- People with chronic diseases including lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, chronic alcoholism, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, cochlear implant recipients
- Regular smokers or people with asthma
- People with chronic underlying diseases who need to travel abroad
Besides vaccination, here are behaviors that help reduce the risk of the disease
- Get enough rest and maintain good health at all times
- Eat a nutritious diet and take health supplements in appropriate amounts
- Avoid smoking and crowded places
- Closely supervise young children and prevent choking. Keep small toys away from children’s reach to prevent them from putting them in their mouths
- When having a cold, flu, measles, chickenpox, etc., take care of yourself early. If symptoms do not improve, consult a specialist doctor as soon as possible
Pneumonia is a serious and dangerous disease but can be completely cured. Most importantly, if you suspect you have this disease, you must see a doctor immediately!
However, if we take care of both our physical and mental health by getting enough rest, exercising regularly, and eating nutritious food, it will serve as a strong defense against various diseases.
