Pneumonia Symptoms, Causes, and

Risk Factors
Anyone can get pneumonia. It's commonly a complication of a
respiratory infectionespecially the flubut there are more than 30
different causes of the illness. Older adults, children and people with
chronic disease, including COPD and asthma, are at high risk for
pneumonia.

What Are the Symptoms of

Pneumonia?
Pneumonia symptoms can vary from mild to severe, depending on
the type of pneumonia you have, your age and health.
The most common symptoms of pneumonia are:
Cough (with some pneumonias you may cough up greenish or
yellow mucus, or even bloody mucus)
Fever, which may be mild or high
Shaking chills
Shortness of breath, which may only occur when you climb
stairs
Additional symptoms include:
Sharp or stabbing chest pain that gets worse when you breathe
deeply or cough
Headache

 Excessive sweating and clammy skin

Loss of appetite, low energy, and fatigue
Confusion, especially in older people
Symptoms also can vary, depending on whether your pneumonia is
bacterial or viral.
In bacterial pneumonia, your temperature may rise as high as
105 degrees F. This pneumonia causes profuse sweating, and
rapidly increased breathing and pulse rate. Lips and nailbeds
may have a bluish color due to lack of oxygen in the blood. A
patient's mental state may be confused or delirious.
The initial symptoms of viral pneumonia are the same as
influenza symptoms: fever, a dry cough, headache, muscle
pain, and weakness. Within 12 to 36 hours, there is increasing
breathlessness; the cough becomes worse and produces a
small amount of mucus. There is a high fever and there may
be blueness of the lips.

What Causes Pneumonia?

Many different germs can cause pneumonia. There are five main
causes of pneumonia:
Bacteria
Viruses
Mycoplasmas
Other infectious agents, such as fungi

 Various chemicals
If you have viral pneumonia, you also are at risk of getting bacterial
pneumonia.
Understanding the cause of pneumonia is important because
pneumonia treatment depends on its cause. Learn more about what
causes pneumonia.

What Are Risk Factors?

Anyone can get pneumonia, but some people are at a higher risk
than others.
Risk factors (that increase your chances of getting pneumonia)
include:
Cigarette smoking
Recent viral respiratory infectiona cold,
laryngitis, influenza, etc.
Difficulty swallowing (due to stroke, dementia, Parkinson's
disease, or other neurological conditions)
Chronic lung disease such as COPD, bronchiectasis, or cystic
fibrosis
Cerebral palsy
Other serious illnesses, such as heart disease, liver cirrhosis, or
diabetes
Living in a nursing facility
Impaired consciousness (loss of brain function due to
dementia, stroke, or other neurologic conditions)

 Recent surgery or trauma

Having a weakened immune system due to illness, certain
medications, and autoimmune disorders