How serious is a lung infection?

Question

Ive just been told my papa is having total bed rest after the doctor has told him he has a lung and urine infection. He'll be 78 in January and has never had any health issues. My ly concer has been the death of my Granny 2 years ago. They were married only 5 days less than 5 years. He seems to hve given up. How serious can these infections be? I am very worried. He is my only grand parent and he means the world to me. Is this easily shook off or can the infections really harm him?

First answerer...its NOT PNEUMONIA.

Answer 1

well presumably the doctor has him on antibiotics, and those will deal with the infection. but, if as you say, he has given up on life, at his age, he could very well will himself to death. I would suggest you have a talk with him, if you are close, and tell him how much you love him.

Answer 2

Serious Lung Infection

Answer 3

How long is a piece of string. This is not a loose comment, neither is it intended to insult, but without any details, to attempt to even guess would be futile. There are many germs (or microbes) which may cause lung infections. The two most important types are viruses and bacteria. Most commonly the infecting germ is inhaled, and multiplies in the lining of the bronchi, spreading the infection further down the tubes, or into the tissues themselves. The spreading infection may not be caused by the germ, which is inhaled, but by growth of other germs already present in the lungs in small numbers. This is called secondary infection, and occurs because the conditions are right for a germ, which is usually harmless to cause problems. Sometimes the infection comes as part of a generalized infection, which affects the whole body. A common example of this is pneumonia as a complication of influenza. It is necessary to identify the cause of the infection before assessing the effect on the patient. His age would be taken into consideration as would his general medical condition. You would be advised to consult the doctor who is dealing with him and ask him for any advice and details that you require.
I regret that this does not answer your question, but it is not possible to be any more specific.
I wish you well.

Hope this helps
matador 89

Answer 4

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RE:
How serious is a lung infection?
Ive just been told my papa is having total bed rest after the doctor has told him he has a lung and urine infection. He'll be 78 in January and has never had any health issues. My ly concer has been the death of my Granny 2 years ago. They were married only 5 days less than 5 years. He seems to...

Answer 5

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Pneumonia disease most often affects the elderly (seniors) and those with chronic disease as a result of damage to the immune system (immune), but pneumonia also can attack a lean, healthy young subjects. Currently the world's pneumonia is reported to have become a major disease among children and is a serious disease that meragut lives of thousands of elderly citizens every year. Pneumonia is the process of acute infection of the lung tissue (alveoli). The occurrence of pneumonia in children often coincides with acute bronchial infection process (usually called bronchopneumonia). Symptoms of this disease in the form of rapid breathing and shortness of breath, because suddenly inflamed lung. Limit fast breathing is a respiratory frequency of 50 times per minute or more in children aged 2 months to less than 1 year, and 40 times per minute or more children at age 1 year to less than 5 years. In children under the age of 2 months, no known diagnosis of pneumonia. Inflammation of the lungs (pneumonia) is a common disease, occurring in all age groups, and is the top-ranking cause of death among the elderly and chronically ill people. Vaccines to prevent certain types of pneumonia can be obtained. Individual prognosis depends on the type of pneumonia, appropriate treatment, complications, and health. Be diligent to check yourself and your family, so if something happens later on you can just handle it.

Answer 6

Sorry to hear about you papa. My guess is he is on anibiotics and hopefully that will help with the infections. However, his broken heart has me concerned. If he still has the will to live, I am hoping he will pull through. Also, encourage him to take fluids. If he can, cranberry juice mixed with a little ginger ale can be very good for a urinary infection. Good luck and take care.

Answer 7

I've been browsing more than 3 hours today looking for answers to the same question, but I haven't found any interesting discussion like this. it is pretty worth enough for me.

Answer 8

If she's really old, then it can be pretty serious. Old people have a hard time getting over illnesses like that. She may die, but I'm sure she's getting medicine that will help her fight it off.

Answer 9

DUE TO SWINE FLU

Answer 10

Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the lung.[1] Frequently, it is described as lung parenchyma/alveolar (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) inflammation and (abnormal) alveolar filling. Pneumonia can result from a variety of causes, including infection with bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites, and chemical or physical injury to the lungs. Its cause may also be officially described as idiopathic, that is unknown, when infectious causes have been excluded.

Typical symptoms associated with pneumonia include cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty in breathing. Diagnostic tools include x-rays and examination of the sputum. Treatment depends on the cause of pneumonia; bacterial pneumonia is treated with antibiotics.

Pneumonia is a common illness which occurs in all age groups, and is a leading cause of death among the elderly and people who are chronically and terminally ill. Vaccines to prevent certain types of pneumonia are available. The prognosis depends on the type of pneumonia, the appropriate treatment, any complications, and the person's underlying health.

Treatment
Most cases of pneumonia can be treated without hospitalization. Typically, oral antibiotics, rest, fluids, and home care are sufficient for complete resolution. However, people with pneumonia who are having trouble breathing, people with other medical problems, and the elderly may need more advanced treatment. If the symptoms get worse, the pneumonia does not improve with home treatment, or complications occur, the person will often have to be hospitalized.

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial pneumonia. In contrast, antibiotics are not useful for viral pneumonia, although they sometimes are used to treat or prevent bacterial infections that can occur in lungs damaged by a viral pneumonia. The antibiotic choice depends on the nature of the pneumonia, the most common microorganisms causing pneumonia in the local geographic area, and the immune status and underlying health of the individual. Treatment for pneumonia should ideally be based on the causative microorganism and its known antibiotic sensitivity. However, a specific cause for pneumonia is identified in only 50% of people, even after extensive evaluation. Because treatment should generally not be delayed in any person with a serious pneumonia, empiric treatment is usually started well before laboratory reports are available. In the United Kingdom, amoxicillin is the antibiotic selected for most patients with community-acquired pneumonia, sometimes with added clarithromycin; patients allergic to penicillins are given erythromycin instead of amoxicillin. In North America, where the "atypical" forms of community-acquired pneumonia are becoming more common, azithromycin, clarithromycin, and the fluoroquinolones have displaced amoxicillin as first-line treatment. The duration of treatment has traditionally been seven to ten days, but there is increasing evidence that shorter courses (as short as three days) are sufficient.[8][9][10]

Antibiotics for hospital-acquired pneumonia include vancomycin, third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins, carbapenems, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides. These antibiotics are usually given intravenously. Multiple antibiotics may be administered in combination in an attempt to treat all of the possible causative microorganisms. Antibiotic choices vary from hospital to hospital because of regional differences in the most likely microorganisms, and because of differences in the microorganisms' abilities to resist various antibiotic treatments.

People who have difficulty breathing due to pneumonia may require extra oxygen. Extremely sick individuals may require intensive care treatment, often including intubation and artificial ventilation.


Complications
Sometimes pneumonia can lead to additional complications. Complications are more frequently associated with bacterial pneumonia than with viral pneumonia. The most important complications include:

Respiratory and circulatory failure
Because pneumonia affects the lungs, often people with pneumonia have difficulty breathing, and it may not be possible for them to breathe well enough to stay alive without support. Non-invasive breathing assistance may be helpful, such as with a bi-level positive airway pressure machine. In other cases, placement of an endotracheal tube (breathing tube) may be necessary, and a ventilator may be used to help the person breathe.

Pneumonia can also cause respiratory failure by triggering acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which results from a combination of infection and inflammatory response. The lungs quickly fill with fluid and become very stiff. This stiffness, combined with severe difficulties extracting oxygen due to the alveolar fluid, create a need for mechanical ventilation.


Pleural effusion. Chest x-ray showing a pleural effusion. The A arrow indicates "fluid layering" in the right chest. The B arrow indicates the width of the right lung. The volume of useful lung is reduced because of the collection of fluid around the lung.Sepsis and septic shock are potential complications of pneumonia. Sepsis occurs when microorganisms enter the bloodstream and the immune system responds by secreting cytokines. Sepsis most often occurs with bacterial pneumonia; Streptococcus pneumoniae is the most common cause. Individuals with sepsis or septic shock need hospitalization in an intensive care unit. They often require intravenous fluids and medications to help keep their blood pressure from dropping too low. Sepsis can cause liver, kidney, and heart damage, among other problems, and it often causes death.

Pleural effusion, empyema, and abscess
Occasionally, microorganisms infecting the lung will cause fluid (a pleural effusion) to build up in the space that surrounds the lung (the pleural cavity). If the microorganisms themselves are present in the pleural cavity, the fluid collection is called an empyema. When pleural fluid is present in a person with pneumonia, the fluid can often be collected with a needle (thoracentesis) and examined. Depending on the results of this examination, complete drainage of the fluid may be necessary, often requiring a chest tube. In severe cases of empyema, surgery may be needed. If the fluid is not drained, the infection may persist, because antibiotics do not penetrate well into the pleural cavity.

Rarely, bacteria in the lung will form a pocket of infected fluid called an abscess. Lung abscesses can usually be seen with a chest x-ray or chest CT scan. Abscesses typically occur in aspiration pneumonia and often contain several types of bacteria. Antibiotics are usually adequate to treat a lung abscess, but sometimes the abscess must be drained by a surgeon or radiologist.

Prognosis and mortality
With treatment, most types of bacterial pneumonia can be cleared within two to four weeks.[11] Viral pneumonia may last longer, and mycoplasmal pneumonia may take four to six weeks to resolve completely.[11] In cases where the pneumonia progresses to blood poisoning (bacteremia), just over 20% will die.[12]

The death rate (or mortality) also depends on the underlying cause of the pneumonia. Pneumonia caused by Mycoplasma, for instance, is associated with little mortality. However, about half of the people who develop methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia while on a ventilator will die.[13] In regions of the world without advanced health care systems, pneumonia is even deadlier. Limited access to clinics and hospitals, limited access to x-rays, limited antibiotic choices, and inability to treat underlying conditions inevitably leads to higher rates of death from pneumonia.