Bacterial Causes of Pneumonia

Pneumonia can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or fungus. Bacterial causes of pneumonia are most common. The most common typical bacteria that are found in pneumonia are Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Haemophilus Influenzae, Chlamydia Trachomatis, Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, and Legionella Pneumophila.

Streptococcus Pneumoniae: This is a gram-positive bacterium. It is catalase negative and alpha-hemolytic (which means that it somewhat likes to grow on blood agar). They are in the shape of elongated cocci. Usually, they are seen as pairs called diplococci, but may also occur singly or in short chains. S. Pneumonia are normal inhabitants of the human respiratory tract. Disease happens only when the host is immunocompromised. It is also known to cause otitis media and meningitis. It usually causes lobar pneumonia in the elderly and children or the immunologically compromised. They do not form spores and are non-motile. They ferment lactose. Purulent, "rusty-colored" sputum in patients with S. Pneumonia is usually the hallmark of S. Pneumonia in patients suspected of suffering from Lobar Pneumonia.

Haemophilus Influenzae: This is a small, non-motile, Gram-negative bacterium that resides in the Pasteurellaceae family. In 1890, it was mistakenly thought to be the cause of the disease Influenza, and it was named accordingly. It is presently known that the Rhinovirus is the major cause of the flu, and not a bacterium. The name has stuck with the bacterium, though. It is present in the nasopharynx of approximately 75% of people. It is a blood loving and fastidious bacterium, which means it is picky on where it will grow. This bacterium will grow on chocolate agar. Its shapes range from coccobacillus to filamentous rods on the Gram Stain. Pathogenic species of H. Influenza typically have a capsule. It typically causes infections of the respiratory and genital mucous membranes. Infection can happen from inhalation or fomites. (A fomite is an inanimate object carrying infectious organisms such as a table top or a door knob.) H. Influenzae form "satellite colonies." Initially, H. influenza invades the nasopharyngeal mucosa before spreading to the lower respiratory tract where the organism invades and destroys the mucus membranes producing Pneumonia.

Chlamydia Pneumoniae: This is a less common causative agent of Pneumonia. It is a gram-negative, aerobic, obligate intracellular pathogen. It is the only bacteria known that have a life cycle, the elementary body (infectious form, and the reticulate body (replicative form). It comes in the shape of a small bacillus with no peptidoglycan in its cell wall. The Chlamydiae species is known for its lack of peptidoglycan membrane and only has an outer membrane and an inner membrane. It is therefore, harder to kill by most antibiotics which actually target the peptidoglycan membrane. They cause harm by invading macrophages, but show its virulence when the cause the macrophage to not make the bacterium fuse with lysososme. The lysosome is the main killer of bacteria inside of a macrophage. In this way, the Chlamydiae bacteria escape killing by a macrophage, and actually live inside of a macrophage! When they replicate, they lyse the macrophage cell.

Mycoplasma Pneumoniae: This bacterium is a member of the class called Mollicutes, meaning soft skin (hence, can change shape). They completely lack a bacterial cell wall. Wall-less bacteria are more difficult to kill because our antibiotics target the cell wall. M. Pneumoniae, like Chlamydiae, is an obligate intracellular pathogen. It lives inside of macrophages and other cells. It cannot survive on its own as it is too small. Mycoplasma do not have their own machinery to replicate because they are so small. M. Pneumoniae is currently thought to be responsible for both tracheobronchitis and primary, atypical pneumonia. M. Pneumoniae can be caught through close personal contact via respiratory droplets. It's peak prevalence times are usually in autumn and winter.

Legionella Pneumophila: Legionella Pneumophila was first discovered in 1976 when an outbreak of pneumonia at an American Legion convention killed 29 people. It is motile, rod-shaped, gram-negative, aerobic bacterium. It requires complex nutrition, such as high cysteine levels and low sodium levels to grow optimally. It has always have been found in non-marine aquatic environments such as lakes and ponds. L. Pneumophila can survive in tap water at room temp for over a year! Legionella bacteria are transmitted to the lungs of human beings through a process called aerosilisation. (Air conditioning cooling towers). It is the cause of Legionnaire's Disease and Pontiac Fever (a mild infection which causes flu-like symptoms that goes away without treatment). Legionnaire's Disease incidence has increased over the past decade or so because of the wide use of central air conditioning, especially in office buildings, hotels, and hospitals. The major side effect of Legionnaire's Disease is respiratory failure which requires mechanical ventilation.

Causes of Pneumonia, Symptoms and Treatment

by John Mathew

Pneumonia is a common but potentially deadly inflammation of the lungs, usually caused by an infection. When the air sacs in the lungs become infected, pus and other liquid fill them, making it difficult to breathe and difficult for oxygen to reach your blood. Pneumonia can affect a single section of your lungs, in which case it's called lobar pneumonia, or it can affect patches throughout both lungs, in which case it's called multifocal pneumonia. If both lungs are infected, it's known as multibar pneumonia.
There are about 30 different causes of pneumonia. However, they all fall into one of these categories:

* Infective pneumonia: Inflammation and infection of the lungs and bronchial tubes that occurs when a bacteria (bacterial pneumonia) or virus (viral pneumonia) gets into the lungs and starts to reproduce.

* Aspiration pneumonia: An inflammation of the lungs and bronchial tubes caused by inhaling vomit, mucous, or other bodily fluids. Aspiration pneumonia can also be caused by inhaling certain chemicals.

Typical symptoms are cough, fever, sweats, shivers, being off food, and feeling generally unwell. Headaches, and aches and pains are common. You usually make more sputum which may become yellow/green, and is sometimes bloodstained. You may become breathless, breathe fast, and develop a 'tight chest'. A sharp pain in the side of the chest may develop if the infection involves the pleura. (This is the membrane between the lung and the chest wall.) A doctor may hear 'crackles' in the chest when listening with a stethoscope.

When a person encounters the symptoms of pneumonia - cough, shortness of breath, chest pain that fluctuates with breathing, fever accompanied with chills and sweats or aggravation of a flu or cold - he or she should consult a doctor right away because this condition may become lethal in some cases if left untreated.

If bacteria cause the pneumonia it can usually be easily treated with antibiotics. Viruses do not respond to antibiotics, but if your pneumonia is caused by a virus antibiotics may be used to help prevent any secondary infections.

Doctors treat pneumonia based on the type of pneumonia a person has as well as other individual factors, such as age and overall health. Bacterial pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. Fungal pneumonia is treated with antifungal agents. Viral pneumonia may be treated with antiviral medications but is more often treated simply with recommendations of rest and plenty of fluids. In addition, for all types of pneumonia, doctors often suggest taking over-the-counter medications to reduce fever and pain.

If the pneumonia is severe, or the person affected is either very old or frail they may need to be treated in hospital where antibiotics and extra fluids and can be given straight into the vein (intravenously). If breathing is difficult, extra oxygen can be given through a facemask. About one in every six people with pneumonia are ill enough to need this kind of specialised care.

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Pneumonia - The simple facts and the cures

What is Pneumonia: Pneumonia is an infection that causes the air sacs in the lungs to fill with fluid, making it hard for you to breathe, and causes you to cough up phlegm. Pneumonia is an ancient Greek word, which means 'lungs'. Pneumonia can occur in patients of all age groups, but young children, and older people are especially at risk.

What causes Pneumonia: Pneumonia is caused by many things. However, bacteria are the most common causes of pneumonia. The most common bacteria that causes pneumonia is 'Streptococcus pneumoniae', Streptococcus pyogenes or Group A Streptococcus can also cause pneumonia. Workers that are exposed to cattle are at a risk for pneumonia caused by anthrax.

Symptoms Of Pneumonia: There are quite a few symptoms that may show up with Pneumonia, the most common ones are: Cough with a yellow or greenish mucus or Phlegm, Fever often with chills and the shakes, Soreness or pain in the chest, worsened by breathing deeply or coughing, Shallow breathing, Shortness of breath, Bloody mucus or phlegm, Headache, Sweating and sometimes clammy skin, Fatigue and weakness, Decreased appetite. If left untreated Pneumonia can advance to 'blood poisoning', and severe respiratory distress. Treatment For Pneumonia: If you have a bacterial pneumonia, you will need to take an antibiotic. The antibiotic will depend on your age, and your medical conditions. You should also drink lots of fluids to stay hydrated, since this helps your body fight the pneumonia. Anti-fever medicines such as Tylenol or Advil may also help you feel better. Cough as much as you comfortably can, to help clear the mucus and phlegm from your lungs. You must avoid cigarette or other tobacco smoke while you recover from pneumonia, since smoking hurts your body's ability to fight infection and makes your healing take a lot longer. If you've been diagnosed with viral pneumonia, you need to rest and drink plenty of fluids. If you work much or over-exert yourself when you have viral pneumonia, you can possibly get sicker. You can use over the counter medicines to reduce fever, body aches, and cough. You can take over the counter medicines such as Tylenol to help you feel better, but you still must rest and drink lots of fluids in order for your body to heal and get better.

Pneumonia Prevention: There are a few things you can do to help reduce your risk for getting Pneumonia, such as: Washing your hands frequently, Don t smoke, and avoid second-hand smoke, Stay away from those who have a cold or the flu, Drink plenty of fluids, Keep Active, and if your in the Hospital try deep breathing exercises and cough up any mucus or Phlegm to help keep the lungs exercised and clear.

There is a website that provides cures, facts and other great information on Pneumonia and numerous medical conditions, the website is called: All About Health, and can be found at this url:

http://www.rb59.com/medical-health-info

By Robert W. BenjaminCopyright © 2007 You may publish this article in your ezine, newsletter, or on your web site as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and without modification except for formatting needs or grammar corrections.

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Triggers and causes of pneumonia

by Groshan Fabiola

Pneumonia is the inflammation of the lungs usually triggered by viruses, bacteria or fungi. It can result as a complication of an earlier infection of the respiratory system and usually goes off when the body's immune system is weakened by common viral infections such as those caused by Influenza.

There are many clinical types of pneumonia according to the localization of the infection; when the illness only affects one pulmonary lobe it is called lobar pneumonia, when the pneumonia involves the bronchia, it can affect both lungs.

Pneumonia associated or caused by the virus Influenza is known to be the seventh cause of death among the population of the USA. Most affected by pulmonary infections are elder persons of 65 and over; about 715000 cases of pneumonia are registered in female patients every year in America while the male number of pneumonia patient is about 680000 per year.

The most often encountered cause of fungal pneumonia is triggered by Pneumocystis carinii and is mostly seen in persons with a weak immune system very often due to the HIV infection. Some related disease of the pulmonary system like tuberculosis can also be responsible for the occurrence of pneumonia. An also commonly encountered cause of pneumonia is the inhalation of food, gases, liquids or even dust.

In spite of the mentioned triggers, the most common cause of pneumonias all over the world is viruses affecting especially young persons. Viral infections are usually due to the respiratory syncitial virus and have similar symptoms with conditions caused by the virus Influenza. The usual symptoms of viral pneumonia are fever, headaches, dry cough, muscle pains, weakness and increasing breathing difficulties.

Most of the bacterial-linked cases of pneumonia are triggered by Streptococcus Pneumoniae especially active when the body' immune system is weakened. This type of pneumonia can produce major damages to the entire organism due to the high potential of the bacteria to multiply and spread to the brain causing meningitis or to the bloodstream causing bacteriemia. The onset of bacterial pneumonia can be sudden or prolonged and will debutate with symptoms like chills, chest pains, cough with rust colored or greenish mucus, tachycardia and increased breathing rate. Also causing pneumonia are small Mycoplasmas evolving with violent attacks and sparse whitish mucus.

Most of the pneumonia cases have no actual treatment; bacterial ones can be cured with antibiotics but a developing resistance is also possible after the ant biotherapy. A vaccine against bacterial pneumonia is also available but its action is only guaranteed for about 80% of the healthy population. Influenza vaccination is also recommended as the two illnesses are linked with each other in many cases.


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Preventing Pneumonia By Understanding The Causes

by Ethan Armitage

Before the discovery of antibiotics, pneumonia was one of the leading causes of death among humans. Nowadays, it can be easily be cured with only a few pills prescribed by a doctor. However, this condition is hard to prevent so it can still create problems for many people. It is important for people to understand what causes this condition in order to avoid it.

Pneumonia is an infection of the tissues from one or both lungs, caused by bacteria or viruses. This condition is contagious because it spreads through the air we breathe, thus making it difficult to avoid. Also, the microorganisms that cause this condition can be found in food and drink.

The first symptoms of are intense coughing and sneezing. Through coughing and sneezing, a very large number of viruses are spread in the air on a large area. What can be done in this case is to cover your mouth and try not to breathe that air or ask the person who sneezed or coughed to cover his or her nose or moth.

The most often met bacteria that cause pneumonia are streptococcus, staphylococcus and haemophilus.

Pneumonia can be acquired at any time and by anyone in the daily duties, at work, at school or at shopping. Yet, a higher risk of exposure to pneumonia is represented by hospitals or exposure to certain chemicals, poison or smoke.

The risks are increased for those people that smoke, drink alcohol, use drugs, have an impaired immune system or are older than 60 years. Pneumonia can also be fatal to those that already suffer from another condition that damages the defense mechanism of the human body.

Because pneumonia can be contacted anywhere in the daily life, it is best to avoid infected people and consult a doctor when the first symptoms appear and don't respond to normal medications. If the condition is discovered in its early stages, it can easily be cured with antibiotics and won't require hospitalization or home resting.


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Pneumonia and its causes, risk factors and diagnosis

by Groshan Fabiola

There are are mechanisms to protect your lungs from infection at each stage of the respiratory stage, but because you are very much exposed to viruses and bacteria sometimes these mechanisms fail in protect your respiratory system and you develop pneumonia. The infectious agents are attacked by white blood cells and all the process determins inflammation and difficult breathing.

Varius types of pneumonia include: Community-acquired pneumonia that is aquired at school, work or the gym which may be mistaken with the acute eosinophilic pneumonia developed by soldiers. Nosocomial pneumonia which occurs in hospitalized people, especially in those who are on a mechanical ventilator, are in the intensive care unit or have a compromised immune system. This type is severe especially in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases or HIV/AIDS.

Aspiration pneumonia which has been described in a brain injury or other condition affects your normal gag reflex, when the content of the stomach is inhaled in your lungs after vomiting. Opportunistic pneumonia appears in people with compromised immune systems, with AIDS, sickle cell disease, other conditions that impair the immune system. For example, P. carinii pneumonia that almost never occurs inhealthy people.

Risk factors Persons aged 65 and older, very young children, persons with immune deficiency diseases as HIV/AIDS and chronic illnesses, removed spleen, impaired immune system. It has been proved that smoke and abuse alcohol are dangerous too. People who require mechanical ventilation are particularly at risk because the breathing tube, patients hospitalized in an intensive care unit, exposion to certain chemicals or pollutants, toxic fumes. Exposion to fungus as: Coccidioidomycosis, found in the US, Southern California and the desert Southwest or histoplasmosis moslty found in Ohio and Mississippi River valleys.

When to seek medical advice if you experience shortness of breath, chest pain that fluctuates, cough, an unexplained fever with chills and sweats. If you have heart failure or lung ailments, pneumonia can prove fatal in as little as 24 hours.

Screening and diagnosis After your doctor exams you and diagnosis the pneumonia you will be sent to chest X-rays and if the image is not clear enough then you may have a more sophisticated imaging test known as a computerized tomography (CT) scan, which takes a series of computer-directed X-rays. Blood tests are necesary and sometimes the examination of your phlegm.

Complications

In young and healthy people your pneumonia is treated with succes, but with the age and if your health is deteriorated: heart failure or lung ailments pneumonia is harder to cure. You may develop the following complications: Bacteremia if the infection invades your bloodstream this way it spreads quickly to the other organs, interferes with your ability to breathe because inflammates your lungs. Pleural effusion occurs when sometimes fluid accumulates between the thin, transparent membrane (pleura) covering your lungs and the chest wall.

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Possible pneumonia causes

by Groshan Fabiola

There are many possible causes of pneumonia. The main cause and also the most common cause of pneumonia is bacteria. However, other infections caused by different microbial organisms can also cause pneumonia. Sometimes there it is impossible to determine what caused pneumonia.

Here is a list with some of the microbial organisms that are to blame in cases of pneumonia: - bacteria: these too can be categorized by the procedure that is used to see the bacteria under a microscope. The stains that are seen under the microscope then tell us what type of bacteria is the one that cause pneumonia. There are two main types: gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria. The gram positive bacteria that cause pneumonia appear colored blue on the strain.

The most common gram positive bacteria that cause pneumonia are:

- streptococcus pneumonia: this is the most common of all pneumonia causes; researchers believed that this type of bacteria was the cause of almost ninety five percent of all pneumonia cases that were community- acquired; however, recent studies have shown that in fact this particular bacteria only accounts for less then thirty percent of all pneumonia cases that are community acquired;

- staphylococcus aureus is another gram- positive bacteria that is second on the most common causes of pneumonia list; however, this type of bacteria sits at the top of the list when it comes to pneumonia cases that are acquired in the hospital; this is rather uncommon in adults that are healthy, but it can develop almost five days after a person has suffered from a condition that has weakened his/ her defense system;

The gram- negative bacteria that cause pneumonia are colored pink. These type of bacteria that cause pneumonia are the most common agents of infection in hospitals. Some of the main gram- negative bacteria that cause pneumonia are:

- haemophilus influenzae: this generally affects people that suffer from chronic lung problems or they affect older people;

- klebisiella pneumoniae is the main bacteria responsible for pneumonia in people that are alcoholics or people who suffer from physical debilities;

- pseudomonas aeruginos is the most common bacteria that cause pneumonia in people that suffer from severe or chronic lung problems;

- neisseria meningitidis is another bacteria that is thought to play a very big role in pneumonia patients; this is one of the most important causes in developing meningitis, but recent studies have shown that this bacteria is also responsible for pneumonia;

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