Pneumonia Causes and Risk Factors

Written by Gary Grey on his blog on Pneumonia

Pneumonia is basically caused by germs which are of many types. All germs which cause pneumonia can broadly be categorized in three categories. These are bacteria, virus and fungi. In healthy conditions when we breathe, our body filters out germs out of the air to protect our lungs. In some cases when our immune system is weak or the germ is very strong, then the germ manages to enter our lungs. Now our immune system fights back by sending different type of cells to attack these germs. The reaction of these attacks causes the alveoli (air sacs) in lungs to get inflamed and become red and there is formation of pus and fluid which fill up in the space there. This causes the infection resulting in pneumonia. In almost all cases infections are caused by germs which are breathed in. But it has also been noted that in a very rare case, pneumonia could have been developed from the infection which was not breathed in but that germ was present in the body and reached the lungs through blood.

Now we will briefly discuss the different categories of germs which cause pneumonia.

Causes of Pneumonia due to Bacteria: Bacteria are known to be the most common
cause of pneumonia in adults. Sometimes, some elderly may get infected by bacterial pneumonia immediately after suffering from flu or common cold. Here we can say that Bacterial pneumonia can be caused by on its own or it can be developed after you have flu or cold. This type of infection affects one lobe (area) of lung. And this condition is called labor pneumonia. The other most common bacteria which cause infection are known Streptococcus pneumococcus. There are other types of bacterias also which are less common but can cause pneumonia, names of these bacterias are as stated below. Haemophilus influenzae.

 Mycoplasma pneumoniae ( It is an outbreak mostly affecting children and young ) Staphylococcus aureus And rarely, there are some bacterias as mentioned below which can also cause the pneumonia. Chlamydophila pneumoniae Chlamydophila psittaci ( infection comes from birds such as parrots, pigeons , parakeets, budgies and canaries )

Causes of Pneumonia due to Viruses: Viruses are the next type of germs due to which
pneumonia can occur. In most of the case which are caused by virus are mild in nature and the patients can recover in one to three weeks without medicine but in some cases, patient may require treatment. Here, one virus called Respiratory virus is most common cause of pneumonia in children and it affects mostly children aged less than five. Another common type of virus which causes pneumonia in adults is flu virus. There are also other less common viruses which causes pneumonia which are rhino virus, respiratory syncytial virus, SARS, herpes simplex virus and many more.

Causes of Pneumonia due to Fungi: There are some

fungi present in soil which can

cause pneumonia. Most of the people who are exposed to these fungi do not get affected by pneumonia but some people may.