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Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs. The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing. A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia.
If pneumonia is suspected, your doctor may recommend the following tests: Blood tests. Blood tests are used to confirm an infection and to try to identify the type of organism causing the infection. However, precise identification isn't always possible. Chest X-ray.
Pneumonitis (noo-moe-NIE-tis) is a general term that refers to swelling and irritation, also called inflammation, of lung tissue. Lung infections such as pneumonia also can cause lung tissue to become inflamed. But pneumonitis generally refers to inflamed lung tissue not caused by an infection.
Walking pneumonia is a mild bacterial infection that resembles a cold. It usually does not require bed rest or a hospital stay.
Legionnaires' disease is a severe form of pneumonia — lung inflammation usually caused by infection. It's caused by a bacterium known as legionella. Most people catch Legionnaires' disease by inhaling the bacteria from water or soil.
The definition of atelectasis is broader than pneumothorax (noo-moe-THOR-aks). Pneumothorax is when air leaks into the space between your lungs and chest wall, causing part or all of a lung to collapse.
A pneumothorax occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse. A pneumothorax can be a complete lung collapse or a collapse of only a portion of the lung.
The list of substances and conditions that can lead to interstitial lung disease is long. Even so, in some cases, the causes are never found. Disorders without a known cause are grouped together under the label of idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, the most common and deadly of which is idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Although a single episode of bronchitis usually isn't cause for concern, it can lead to pneumonia in some people. Repeated bouts of bronchitis, however, may mean that you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Symptoms specific to the type of infection, such as painful urination from a urinary tract infection or worsening cough from pneumonia. Symptoms of sepsis are not specific. They can vary from person to person, and sepsis may appear differently in children than in adults.