Is Pneumonia Deadly?

Pneumonia is a mystery disease because it shows rapid advancement once it affects a person and can lead to dangerous consequences. Also, till date, it hasn't been medically proved if pneumonia is contagious but definitely its symptoms like cold and flu can be easily passed onto others. It is also risky because it treats some people fairly and for some, it can be totally lethal. The number of deaths caused by this dreaded infection all across the world is staggering and it can be convincingly stated that it is indeed a deadly disease.

What Makes Pneumonia a Lethal Disease
Lungs, one of the most exposed organs to environmental and microscopic agents like bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoans and mycoplasma are taken for granted, by majority of the population. Since the entire respiratory process is involuntary, we never give a serious thought to our lung care or to say, respiratory system care. Lungs are solely responsible for eliminating CO₂ from our blood and so they oxygenate every cell of our body. Since this forms the basis of survival of life, any impairment in the functioning of lungs (due to lungs diseases like pneumonia) leads to quite dangerous consequences for the body. Minute and microscopic air sacs in the lungs after infection are filled with mucus and pus. This decreases the intake of oxygen in our bloodstream while the presence of CO₂ increases leading to negative health consequences.

Symptoms
The signs of pneumonia vary greatly depending on numerous factors like the age of the patient and the particular microorganism that has caused the disease. Initially, it begins with cold, cough and advances into other problems like severe fever and body aches.

Bacterial Pneumonia
An individual suffering from bacterial pneumonia may experience following symptoms.

• High fever
• Shaking Chills
• Chest Pain and Congestion
• Sweating
• Severe coughing with thick sputum (yellowish or greenish)
• Shortness of breath

Viral Pneumonia
It is similar to flu in its signs and symptoms. Prominent signs of this infection include.

• Dry cough
• Fever
• Muscle Fatigue
• Headache
• Muscle pain
• White Phlegm (in advanced stages)
• Shortness of breath

Mycoplasma Pneumonia
It is also known as walking pneumonia that rarely shows any symptoms in the initial stages. The signs of this disease in advanced stages are as follows:

• Low energy levels
• Cold advancing to chest from nose and throats give a feeling of chest tightness.
• Running nose problems
• Abdominal pain
• Eye, ear and muscle pain
• Fatigue

Any of these symptoms, if they become severe can be deadly because they interfere with the immune system. It is to be remembered that a person may get cold and similar signs from another person suffering from this disease but the person may or may not develop pneumonia. These aspects of Pneumonia that are shrouded in mystery give it the status of a deadly disease.