How much is pneumonia treated in adults

Pneumonia, or pneumonia, is a fairly common disease. However, unlike the usual cold, the disease has an unpleasant statistics - from it annually kills up to 6 percent of people who have experienced pathology. It follows that the therapy of pneumonia should be thorough, which will certainly affect the quality of life in the period of illness, because the work and the usual rhythm will have to be replaced by adherence to the hospital regime.

Therefore, patients often have a question: how much is pneumonia treated? And the answer to it can not be unambiguous, because the duration of the disease depends on the person's age, his overall health and severity of the disease.

Pneumonia - what is it?

Pneumonia is a disease characterized by inflammation of the lung tissue. The causative agent of pathology is an infection that penetrates the lungs and becomes a catalyst for the inflammatory process in the tissues.

At first glance, it is difficult to distinguish pneumonia from colds, which is why it is important to consult a doctor on time and carefully follow all his recommendations. In this case, the question of how much pneumonia is treated is unlikely to be relevant, because the disease will be as quickly and without complications.

Pneumonia is diagnosed by the following symptoms:

• dyspnea;
• Cough with phlegm;
• Increased body temperature;
• Pain in the sternum.

The described symptoms are listed in the order of probability from the presence. Dyspnea and cough with sputum discharge are noted in all patients, the temperature is in the majority, and the pain in the sternum is less common.

Pneumonia in children

According to the etiology of the disease, pneumonia occurs most often in children, mainly in the age of up to seven years. This is due to the cellular composition of the blood. In an adult, the number of subspecies of leukocytes is balanced in such a way as to protect the body from infection, to react to its penetration, to destroy in various ways. In children of preschool age, the leukocyte formula is changed due to the predominance of lymphocytes, which makes immunity weaker.

Therefore, the answer to the question of how much pneumonia is treated in children will be unambiguous: the disease can take a long time, up to several weeks, and the course of the disease itself will be more severe, with a pronounced symptomatic picture.

Pneumonia in old age

No less dangerous than for young children, pneumonia is also for patients older than 65 years. At this age, the immune system is weakened by the existing chronic diseases, so when answering the question "how much pneumonia is treated in adults after reaching the age threshold," the answer is: approximately the same number of days as children, that is, more than the patient Young and middle-aged people, all other things being equal.

Patients in this category are strongly advised to undergo inpatient treatment. Constant observation, the ability to administer medications through injections and droppers, bed rest and special diet will accelerate recovery and avoid complications. The term, how many pneumonia is treated in adults with pneumonia in the hospital, averages 10-14 days, after which they continue to be treated at home on an outpatient basis.

Ambulatory treatment

Depending on the severity of the disease and the patient's condition, pneumonia can be treated both in a hospital and at home. But it is important to note that therapy in the home should be done with the observance of a sparing sparing regimen. Carrying pneumonia on your feet is extremely dangerous.

About 70 percent of all patients can be treated at home. Adult people usually face a bacterial type of pneumonia, that is, a bacterium (streptococcus, staphylococcus, hemophilus rod) that provokes the disease, which got into the body and was not destroyed by the immune system until the symptomatic picture develops.

How much time is treated for pneumonia in adults on an outpatient basis depends on compliance with the prescription of the doctor and the correctness of the choice of therapy. Under favorable conditions, the improvement of well-being comes in 4-5 days, but weakness can last longer. Complete recovery occurs in 15-20 days.

Treatment in hospital

Before finding out how much pneumonia is treated in adults in a hospital, it is important to explain that staying in a hospital is only required in certain cases.

First of all, the severity of the disease and the risk of complications are assessed. So, hospitalization is recommended if the patient is over 65 years old, if his condition is troubling (confusion, high temperature, acceleration of the heart rhythm, complications), or if it is difficult for the patient to serve himself.

Sometimes a doctor may recommend an outpatient treatment, but after taking tests and detecting, for example, a high level of urea in the blood, transfer the patient to a hospital.

Since patients in a hospital are in a more serious condition, the question of how many days is treated for pneumonia in adults has a different answer than in the case of outpatient monitoring.

In severe cases, the patient's incapacity for work can be up to a month and a half. In this case, even after the indicated period, residual effects after the transferred disease can be observed.

Pathological foci

When it comes to the severity of the disease, it is necessary to explain that it is not an abstract quantity. There are 4 categories of inflammation of the lung tissue, based on the area of the lesion:

• focal;
• Segmented;
• Share;
• Croupous.

To understand the principle of classification, it is important to represent the anatomical structure of the lung. Segment of the lung - a site of tissue, conditions from a variety of alveoli. Several segments are combined into the concept of a pulmonary lobe. The tissues of both lungs are united by the concept of croup.

Obviously, the larger the size of tissues was subjected to inflammation, the brighter the symptoms and the longer it will be necessary to wait for recovery. Therefore, comparing how much segmental pneumonia is treated in adults and focal inflammation will be in favor of the first in terms of the number of days that will have to be spent on hospital leave.

Patient immunity

The duration of the disease depends on the patient to the same extent as the severity of the disease. First of all, it is necessary to take into account factors such as the age of the patient and the state of his health. Chronic diseases prolong the period of pneumonia, make the symptomatic picture brighter due to reduced immunity.

Reduced activity of the immune system can occur in specific diseases, for example, in HIV or primary immunodeficiencies. Negatively affect the immunity of cytostatics and glucocorticosteroids, which are used to treat autoimmune diseases, to suppress the immune response.

Conditions of life of the patient

The second category of factors influencing how much pneumonia is treated is the patient's behavior and the conditions of his life. Poor nutrition, insanitary conditions, material difficulties, which do not allow you to buy the necessary medicines, or the patient's unwillingness to adhere to the regime adversely affect the recovery process.

Sometimes the cause of prolonged pneumonia is the wrong choice of medication, most often - antibiotics.