Re: The spread of pneumonia.

[Guest guest]

Louise,

You wrote "Pneumonia is not catching unless fever is involved." Good Grief!

The hospital people left you with a simplistic view of how pneumonia is spread. Like the common cold, generally, the bugs which cause pneumonia are always present. It is the state of a person's immune system that makes them susceptible to pneumonia.

There are many causes for pneumonia: bacterial, viral, and in some cases mechanical (this is like when a person is overcome with smoke inhalation, the irritation of the smoke causes the inflammation in the far ends of the bronchial tree).

The most common cause of pneumonia in all people is aspiration of fluid which comes from the mouth, nose, and other parts of the oral pharynx and naso pharynx. A normal person aspirates some of this mucus during sleep and gets a dose of the bugs that inhabit that mucus. Remember that, the immune system determines whether the bugs in these aspirants cause pneumonia. In a normal person with a healthy immune system, pneumonia does not develop.

The condition of a healthy immune system might be overcome by a massive number of bugs. This is why Bill warned against a big juicy kiss.

Most cases of pneumonia start out as bronchitis, influenza, or other ailments which can over tax the immune system. Fever is a part of the immune system aimed at killing the bugs. Fever usually indicates a high number of disease causing organisms are present. The situation of the immune system to be overwhelmed and a secondary infection occurs. a patient with fever usually has a large number of disease causing organism present. At this stage, just like with a cold, the infection may be spread by a cough, sneeze, or kiss.

What you were told was essentially correct, but, not the full story of how one gets pneumonia. If your immune system is weak, you can give yourself pneumonia.

Sorry this is so lengthy and hope I did not bore you too much.

God Bless,

Jim Stark