Adult Pneumonia Patient Information Leaflet

                                                                                        

 

A leaflet for adult patients with pneumonia

 

What is pneumonia?

Your lungs are breathing tubes. At the end of these tubes, there are tiny air sacs called alveoli. When you have pneumonia, it means that you have infection in your lungs and these alveoli have filled with fluid. There are many different types of bacteria and viruses that can cause the infection in the lungs. These infections are carried in the air particularly when people are coughing, sneezing or vomiting. This infection makes it harder for your lungs to process the air as you breathe.

 

Who is at risk of pneumonia?

Pneumonia is a condition that can affect people of any age. It is common during the autumn and winter. You are more at risk of getting pneumonia if you:

• smoke
• have long term heart, lung or kidney disease
• have medical conditions needing several treatments
• are taking medicines which weaken your immune system
• have cancer or you are being treated with chemotherapy
• have had a recent chest injury

Babies, young children and the elderly are most at risk along with high use of drugs and alcohol.

 

Symptoms of pneumonia

Pneumonia is serious and may make you feel very unwell. Symptoms may include:

• coughing with or without yellow or green mucus

• fever with or without chills

• difficulty breathing

• chest pain or discomfort

• fatigue and malaise

• reduced appetite

• confusion – particularly in the elderly

• low blood pressure

• fast heartbeat or palpitations

• coughing blood

• nausea and vomiting

 

Diagnosis and treatment

Your doctor can make a diagnosis based on symptoms and physical examination, however you may require a chest X-Ray to confirm the pneumonia. They may also do some blood tests and ask for a sputum sample.

The main treatment for pneumonia is antibiotics which should be started as soon as possible after diagnosis. The duration depends on the severity of the pneumonia. You should also rest and drink plenty of fluids. More severe cases may require hospital admission and intravenous antibiotics.

 

Recovery

After discussion with you, a decision will be made about which treatment is best. A course of antibiotics will normally be successful in treating your pneumonia. Usually we can effectively treat your illness at home with oral antibiotics (tablets, capsules or liquid taken by mouth).

Sometimes, these antibiotics may not be strong enough and we may need to give you intravenous antibiotics (where an antibiotic is injected into your vein via a drip). Where possible this can be done in your home. When you have had pneumonia, it may take a few weeks or months to feel fully fit again. Your symptoms should steadily improve and most people can expect that by:

1 week - your fever should have gone

4 weeks - you should have less chest pain and produce less sputum

6 weeks - you may notice that you have less of a cough and your breathlessness should have improved

3 months - most symptoms should have gone, but you may still feel tired

6 months - most people will feel that they are back to normal

It can take longer than this in patients who are elderly or who have a lot of other health problems.

 

Will I need any other treatment or follow up?

Once you have completed your antibiotics and any other treatment that your team prescribed, you will not normally need any other treatment.

It is important to make sure you have a pneumonia vaccination. This can reduce the chance of developing a severe pneumonia.

However, this vaccination does only protect against one specific bacteria and there are many other bacteria which can also cause this infection.

Because of this, you can still develop pneumonia again despite having had the pneumonia vaccination.

The protective effect will last for 10 years or more. Your GP will be able to check if you need one.

Thinking about the future, your team may recommend to your GP that you have a yearly flu vaccination.

After you have been discharged you will need to contact your GP who can arrange for you to come back for a follow up chest X-ray 6 – 8 weeks later. This is to make sure that the area of your lung that was affected has returned back to normal.

If there are still areas on your chest X-ray at this point which have not gone back to normal, your GP may want you to have further tests including X-rays or CT scans. It can seem like a lot of bother to come back for these X-rays, especially if you are feeling ‘back to normal.’ However, these chest X-rays are important as occasionally people have developed pneumonias due to serious underlying problems.

 

How can you improve your condition?

Have lots of rest and drink plenty of water. If you are a smoker you are strongly advised to stop. We are able to give you information about the local stop smoking services available. Make sure that you eat a healthy and well balanced diet to give your body the nutrients it needs to fight an infection.

Try to avoid the spread of illnesses by using strict hand washing and hygiene habits. Talk to your GP or nurse about having the pneumonia vaccination and the flu vaccination.

 

To prevent pneumonia

To organise a pneumonia or flu jab, talk to your GP, local pharmacist

or call the Asthma and Lung UK helpline on 0300 222 5800.