Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a medical state that affects the air sacs in the lungs identified as alveoli and it can be defined further as an inflammatory lung condition. This condition is tends to be caused by either viral or bacterial infections, as well as certain microorganisms or some drugs which individuals are ingesting. In addition, pneumonia might be caused by autoimmune diseases which make it easier for infections to occur in the lungs. Among the most typical symptoms of this condition coughs, pain in the chest, a certain amount of fever, as well as the person infected having difficulty in breathing. There are various tools which are used in diagnosing this condition and these include the use of x-rays, or taking a sample of sputum for testing. There are various types of vaccines available for the prevention of pneumonia and these are complemented by the treatment measures available for those who suffer from the infection. The treatment of this condition depends on the agent that caused it, whether it is viral or bacterial. If the infection is caused by bacteria, then the condition is treated using antibiotics but if the condition is caused by a virus, on the other hand, the most common treatment used are neuraminidase inhibitors. When an infection is deemed to be severe, the most likely cause of action that doctors tend to take is to have the patient admitted to hospital because if left untreated, this condition often proves to be fatal. It is estimated that on an annual basis, pneumonia affects over four hundred million people and of these, about four million meet their deaths from the condition. While this condition has been made treatable with the advancement of the development of antibiotic therapy as well as vaccines, pneumonia still remains one of the most dangerous as well as the a leading cause of death, especially in developing countries. The people, in these countries, who are at the most risk of infection, tend to be the young, the elderly, and those who are extremely ill.

Those who are infected by pneumonia tend to display certain symptoms which provide the evidence that they have indeed been infected. Among the symptoms that they display include coughing, a fever, a stabbing pain in the chest when taking deep breaths, and most of all, an increase in the rate of respiration because of the shortness of breath that they experience. One of the most prominent symptoms that is displayed by older people is that of being confused. Among children, on the other hand, there is often a fever, coughing, as well as difficulty in breathing. When making a diagnosis of the condition, too much insistence should not be put on the detection of a fever because this is a common symptom that can be found in quite a number of diseases such as malaria among other severe diseases. In addition, coughs should also not be considered to be a common symptom among children who are less than a year old and instead, more severe signs should be looked out for. Among the severe symptoms of this condition is the appearance of a blue tinge on the skin, a decrease in the infected person’s thirst, convulsions, and the most severe of all, a decrease in consciousness level. Whatever the source of infection, whether bacterial or viral, the victims of pneumonia often display the same symptoms and this is the reason why specific tests have to be carried out to ensure that the correct treatment is prescribed to a patient.

While pneumonia is often caused by either bacterial or viral infections, it is not uncommon to find that even fungi and other parasites can cause this condition. It has, however been estimated that of the over one hundred agents that can potentially cause pneumonia, only a few of these agents are actually responsible for the majority of the cases involved. In a little more than 45% of the cases studied in children, it has been found that the causing agents have been a mixture of bacterial and viral infections. Among adults, on the other hand, the potential for there being a mixed bacterial and viral infection as a cause for pneumonia has been estimated to be about 15%. The causing agent of an infection cannot be identified in more than half of the cases tested, despite the tests being conducted carefully. This is the reason why pneumonia has come to be a all-purpose term for any illness that causes the inflammation of the lungs. There are various factors which influence the development of pneumonia and these include the following: smoking, chronic kidney disease, immunodeficiency among other factors. The use of medications that are meant for the suppression of acids as well as old age are risk factors that also expose individuals to pneumonia.

The diagnosis of pneumonia is often done using a combination of both the physical symptoms as well as the conducting of a chest x-ray but despite these; the underlying causative agents of this condition are difficult to determine. This is because of the fact that definitive tests for the determination of the causative agents of this condition have yet to be made. According to the World Health Organization, this condition in children is defined as their having coughs or difficulty in breathing as well as having a rapid respiratory rate. The latter is defined as rapid when the rate of breathing is more than sixty breaths a minute, especially in children who are less than two months old. It has been found that in children, it is much more effective to check for an increased respiratory rate and chest in drawing than having to listen to their chest crackles using a stethoscope. Among adults, it is not necessary to conduct investigations in cases where there are mild symptoms, as long as all the vital signs of the individual are normal. Among those people who require hospitalization after infection, it is recommended that chest radiography and blood tests should be conducted. It is a fact that many of the viral infections that cause pneumonia are based on influenza, and because of this, it must not only be confirmed by symptoms, but also through the conducting of tests.

Among the best ways that have been found to prevent pneumonia is the use of vaccines as well as taking measures which are appropriate for the treatment of other health problems that might be a cause of the condition. It has been estimated that if preventive measures are to be taken to deal with the condition, the quite a large number of children, nearly half a million, would be saved from death per annum. It has also been found that if the necessary treatment for the condition is made available, especially for children, worldwide, then the mortality rates would be reduced by another half a million, meaning that a combination of preventative measures as well as treatments would ensure that the mortality rates among children would be brought down by a million, an extremely significant reduction indeed. Pneumonia vaccines prevent some infections that are either caused by viruses or bacteria in the entire human population, but influenza vaccines have also been found to be effective in preventing infections. It is recommended that individuals who are over six months old should undergo vaccination every year so that the risk of infection, especially those caused by viruses, can be reduced.

It is recommended that those people who smoke cease to do so because they are at a higher risk of getting infected than other people. Furthermore, the reduction of indoor air pollution goes a long way in preventing the development of pneumonia, and to achieve this end, indoor cooking using such fuels as wood should cease. Other preventative measures include the keeping of good general hygiene as well as coughing into ones sleeve in order to prevent any possible infection from getting transferred to others. It is further recommended that those people who are infected by the condition wear surgical masks because to do so will ensure that the risk of the infection being spread within the population is greatly reduced. Pneumonia is sometimes caused by underlying diseases such as HIV or malnutrition, and as a preventative measure, these diseases have to be treated appropriately so that this risk can be reduced. Mothers who exclusively breastfeed their children who are less than six months old ensure that the risk of their contracting pneumonia is reduced, and that if these children are infected, then there is a reduction in the severity of the condition.

When a specialist in the infections that cause pneumonia is making a treatment plan, he or she should also consider other possible treatments for the condition apart from the administration of oral antibiotics. If there is no improvement in the condition of the patient through home care, and the symptoms he or she displays seem to worsen, then it will be necessary for such a person to be hospitalized so that he can receive specialized care. There are times when the only option left for specialists is to design a treatment plan which include the trial of new drugs or treatment methods for their patients. Such options tend to come about especially in situations where other treatments have failed to work. While these new treatments are designed to help the patients involved, they also help in the assessment of how different drugs work on them. This helps in future research, which comes up with even better treatments for pneumonia. In conclusion, it can be said that pneumonia is a medical condition that has plagued the human population for a long time, and it can affect anyone, no matter how young or old they are. Because of this, it is essential to ensure that enough funding is provided so that research in the treatment of this condition can be advanced. In almost every instance that one develops this disease, it comes to affect everyone who is close to them. In severe cases, it is quite possible that an infected person might transmit the condition to those around them, and this is something which is highly undesirable. There are times when treatment for the condition while the patient resides at home proves to be difficult, and the solution is often to have then hospitalized. It is, therefore, essential that the specialist involved in the treatment of the disease to provide the patient with all the treatment options available for them, so that the patient is aware of all the possible ways that their condition might be treated. After doing this, it is the duty of the specialist to advice the patient on what the best treatment options for them are available. When the patient is aware of all the treatment options open to them, it will be immensely easy for them to adjust their lifestyle so that they can dedicate themselves to their recovery.

The re-emergence of disease once believed eradicated or controlled in modern society

Chugh (2008) states that one of the biggest health threats to the public is the reemergence of diseases once believed to have been either eradicated or controlled due to the fact that common bacteria are increasingly developing resistance to antibiotics. This new threat has the ability to reverse all the progress that has been made against diseases since the development of penicillin, due to the fact that diseases such as gonorrhea, meningitis and tuberculosis are developing strains which are drug resistant. A possible reason for this is the current overuse of antibiotics as well as the use of antibiotics on livestock in order to promote their growth. It is a very difficult task to track down these new drug resistant strains of diseases and there is yet to be agreement on how best to deal with this situation. Bettelheim (1999) states that these new strains, after tests were done, were shown to have acquired genetic traits which enabled them to evade most of the conventional lines of pharmaceutical attack, and if left unchecked, they could severely limit the ability of doctors to control dangerous infections. Furthermore, these drug resistant strains would make even the simplest operations into potentially life threatening situations.

There has been news of outbreaks of infectious diseases not only in the United States but also all over the world. According to Krause (1992) diseases which were once thought to have been eradicated, such as polio, are slowly reemerging and very little can be done to stop then due to the fact that they are drug resistant. There are increasing cases of new infections by such strains everyday and these contagions have been making powerful impressions all across the world and many states have chosen to give them special attention in order to develop new ways of eradicating them. Cherry (2010) declares that in the United States, there have been cases of whooping cough especially in California in 2010 where over nine thousand cases were reported with several infant deaths. Kim (2007) states that the most common symptoms of whooping cough are having a runny nose, sneezing, low grade fever, and a mild occasional cough which is similar to the one experienced when having a common cold. Later there develop numerous bursts of coughing accompanied by a long effort to breath in. between episodes, the person infected may appear to be in a normal condition, but in infants, they appear to be very ill. There have been cases where immunization programs have been interrupted due to the belief that the fight against the various infectious diseases has been won and this has enabled the reemergence of these diseases that have resisted the drugs available. Furthermore, the resistance against such diseases has been greatly reduced because of the lack of resistance in human beings.

There are several reasons why the diseases which were once thought to have been eradicated or controlled are reemerging. Esmaeil (2008) states that one of these is the fact that some disease causing bacteria have acquired genes which enable them to resist the drugs which are administered to eradicate them. Another reason is that there is an abundant use of antibiotics and this has enabled the bacteria to develop resistance to drugs. Lastly, the use of antibiotics in livestock to encourage their growth has enabled bacteria which were previously confined to animals to get transmitted to human beings and these have transferred their genes to human bacteria enabling them to survive. Examples of these drug resistant diseases that are reemerging are the tuberculosis and poliomyelitis. Wang (2012) says that there have been cases of doctors refusing to give any medical care to children who have not been immunized because their parents were concerned that vaccines causes autism and other medical problems. The refusal of these parents to have their children vaccinated leaves them vulnerable to attacks from new strains of diseases which can turn out to be infectious and life threatening not only to these children and to others.

Tuberculosis was once a major health problem whose prevalence declined dramatically due to the development of vaccines against it. According to Shields (2005) with the emergence of HIV, tuberculosis has reemerged as an opportunistic infection, developing new drug resistant strains which physicians are finding difficult to treat. This disease has developed resistance to many of the antibiotics which are used to treat it mainly through genetic exchange or mutation or the long term use of antibiotics.

Governmental entities all over the world are finding it very hard to control the reemergence of diseases once thought to have been controlled. Moyers (2012) declares that the cultural and religious beliefs of people tend to influence them into resisting the use of vaccines because of the suspicion that some of these cultures have against them. There are religious practices which do not allow the use of vaccines because of the belief that it is the will of God if one gets a disease and it is not the responsibility of human beings to go against his will. This belief is especially prevalent in the religious practices of the Middle East and the Taliban influenced Afghanistan. European views concerning vaccination are also beginning to change with many parents believing that vaccines negatively affects the health and well being of their children and this increases the resistance to vaccination.

. In conclusion, it is best to educate and get the public to be aware of the existence of these reemerging diseases so that they are better able to protect themselves. State and federal laws should be put in place to ensure that parents are not allowed to opt out of vaccinating their children in order to reduce the risk of a rapid spread of reemerging diseases. There is a risk of the developing of more reemerging diseases and we should be ready for them by the provision of more information to the public concerning the benefits of preventative vaccination.

Cited Works

Bettelheim, A. (1999). Drug-resistant bacteria. CQ Researcher, 9, 473-496. Retrieved from http://0-library.cqpress.com.alice.dvc.edu/cqresearcher/

Chugh, T. D. (2008). Emerging and re-emerging bacterial diseases in India. Journal of Biosciences, 33(4), 549-55.

Kim, C. (2007). Pertusis: A re-emerging threat. The Journal for Nurse Practioners,

Krause, R. (1992). The origin of plagues: old and new. Science 257:1073-1078,

Cherry, J. (2010). The present and future control of pertusis. Editorial Commentary,

Retrieved from http://cid.oxfordjournals.org

Esmaeil, Z. (2008). Emerging and re-emerging zoo noses. Iranian Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2008(3(2):109-115), www.middle-east-online/english/?id=51041

Moyers, B. (2012). The risk of contagion nation. Middle East online, Retrieved from http:w Caladrillo, P. S. (2005). American law & economic association annual meetings. Vanishing Vaccinations: Why are so many Americans opting out of vaccinating their children?

Shields, B. M. (2005). The bioarchaeology of tuberculosis: A global view on a reemerging disease. Southeastern Archaeology,24(2), 235-0_4. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.alice.dvc.edu/docview/207213529?accountid=38376

Wang, S. (2012, February 15). More Doctors 'Fire' Vaccine Refusers. The Wall Street Journal.