Simple fever, colds, chills, cough, and usual chest contractions—some people often see these signs of discomfort as typical illnesses which naturally pass. However, ignoring health signs like these may lead a person to acquire a respiratory track illness which may disguise itself as common colds and flu but is actually a dangerous and fatal disease. To be more specific, the said signs are actually symptoms of a common yet deadly respiratory or pulmonary illness called pneumonia (“Pneumonia”). What is Pneumonia? Pneumonia is relatively a popular medical term.
It is one of those frequently discussed and talked-about health conditions because of its prevalence. At present, over 3 million Americans develop pneumonia every year (Schiffman and Stoppler 1). Hence, it has been a common topic of public service announcements and medical reports since more and more people nowadays are being afflicted by it. In spite of the entire buzz about pneumonia being a common sickness, can an average person define it? Considering that it is a rather ordinary pulmonary ailment, are people aware of how it can be acquired and how to prevent it?
The answers to these questions may not be certain; however, as the number of people who experience pneumonia increase everyday, it serves as a solid basis in itself that it is indeed necessary for people to know how common pneumonia is and how easily can it be acquired. Therefore, there is a need for them to know hot to avoid it. Pneumonia is medically defined as the swelling of the lungs whenever an infection occurs. The infection can either be caused by bacteria, viruses, or other organisms (“Pneumonia”).
Once a harmful bacterium enters a person’s system, it will reside and feed on the individual’s body and will later on develop bacterial growth. This eventually leads to a kind of infection which triggers uneasiness and discomfort around the respiratory track, thus leading to other complications such as influenza, a symptom of early pneumonia (“Pneumonia”). A simple case of pneumonia can still be difficult to mark, even though it has a lot of signs. This is because the illness itself appears similar to a lot of typical conditions like common colds and dry cough which people tend to ignore and let pass.
This could be the reason why a proper information campaign about pneumonia, its symptoms, its effects, and ways on how it can be prevented may appear necessary enough. Over the years, pneumonia has become one of the leading causes of death in America (Schiffman and Stoppler 1). In the years of study and research about pneumonia, it was found that bacterial and viral infection chooses no gender, age, or lifestyle—anyone can be affected by it. Thus, everybody can acquire pneumonia. Once a person gets exposed to a certain type of bacteria and once it reaches his or her respiratory track, it can already cause some serious problems.
Today, after years of extensive research, the medical world has introduced another type of pneumonia which appears difficult to spot because of its relative mildness. This type of pneumonia is identified as walking pneumonia. What is Walking Pneumonia? After several years of medical research about the mild yet rife killer, pneumonia, it was classified into two: the Typical and Atypical pneumonia. This classification was based on the commonness of the type of bacteria which caused the infection. Typical pneumonia can be caused by common viruses, infection of gram-positive bacteria, or gram-negative bacteria.
Atypical pneumonia, on the other hand, is the type of pneumonia which is caused by uncommon virus-like and bacteria-like infectious micro-organisms (Klienwachter). Walking pneumonia is also known as atypical pneumonia. It is called walking pneumonia since patients who are diagnosed with this disease do not usually have to be admitted in a hospital and do not require much medical attention (Klienwachter). People afflicted by this disease can usually go on with their everyday activities and do not need to regularly and seek serious medical help.
However, although walking pneumonia is not always severe like the other form of pneumonia, the danger arises from the difficulty of doctors and patients themselves to spot and trace the disease. Because of this, proper precautions are not always done which eventually causes other people to get infected as well. When a person is diagnosed with walking pneumonia, it means that he or she got infected by a micro-organism called the mycoplsma pneumoniae (“Pneumonia”). This micro-organism resembles bacteria and acts like it as well.
Normally, the patient does not have to be confined in the hospital for a long time with this kind of disease; however, since some people find it hard to tell whether they have the disease or not, they tend to ignore it and go on with their lives, failing to consider some necessary precautions. Hence, instead of being just a mild pulmonary infection, this may eventually cause the disease to get worse. In addition, the patient may still develop several kinds of complication which may lead to a more severe condition.
One of such complications related to pneumonia is the sepsis of the lungs. What is Sepsis of the Lungs? The severity of walking pneumonia, as well as the other types of pneumonia, varies according to how well a person takes good care of his or her health, how the disease was acquired, and how often he or she seeks medical treatment. Generally though, every individual who develops pneumonia is at risk of experiencing more severe conditions such as Sepsis of the lungs.
Sepsis is a more complicated and complex condition which happens when the lungs get inflamed due to serious infection (Eli Lilly and Company). This condition is often called by doctors as “blood poisoning” since sepsis affects a person’s blood flow due to the germs contaminating it. This blood infection affects the patient in a way that he or she feels pain and discomfort not only around the infected region; rather, the symptoms spread throughout his or her entire body through the blood flow. Not all people have a strong resistance against infection.
This is one of the main reasons why there are people who develop sepsis and severe sepsis from a common infection and later on die from the condition. In the United States alone, around 6 million people have developed severe sepsis in 2001, and around 2 million were known to have died out because of it as well (Eli Lilly and Company). Hence, this poses a warning not only to sepsis and pneumonia patients but also to the rest of the world that a mild infection such as walking pneumonia must not be ignored. Nothing must look mild enough to be overlooked.
Avoiding people who are infected with pneumonia, acquiring pneumonia shots, and personal hygiene and protection can help, but these may not be enough to prevent pneumonia and severe complications from developing. Sepsis is just one complication, but considering how harsh and polluted the modern environment appears, people must remain open to other possibilities of complication. Thus, the public must obtain proper information about such a mild and seemingly harmless condition like walking pneumonia and a severe complication of sepsis and campaign in order to increase their awareness on these illnesses.
With an adequate knowledge about these diseases, the world can stop them from spreading. Works Cited Eli Lilly and Company. “Understanding Sepsis. ” Sepsis. com. 03 February 2009 <http://www. sepsis. com/family_friends/understanding. jsp? reqNavId=5. 2>. Iannelli, Vincent. “Walking Pneumonia. ” 21 March 2007. About. com: Pediatrics. The New York Times Company. 3 February 2009 <http://pediatrics. about. com/od/pneumonia/a/walking_pneumon. htm>. Klienwachter, Roy E.
“Interesting Facts about Walking Pneumonia. ” Spiritual New Age Wisdom Article Directory. 3 February 2009 <http://www. klienwachter. com/adarticles/Article/Interesting-Facts-about-Walking-pneumonia/5631>. “Pneumonia. ” Pneumonia Symptoms. 2006. 2 February 2009 <http://www. pneumoniasymptoms. org/>. Schiffman, George and Melissa Conrad Stoppler. “Pneumonia. ” 31 September 2002. MedicineNet. com. 2 February 2009. <http://www. medterms. com/script/main/art. asp? articlekey=4962>.