Everything You Need To Know About Treating Pneumonia
First, the treatment of pneumonia depends on the type of pneumonia the patient has. To do this, the doctor must consider a set of important factors to determine the most appropriate treatment in a given case. Among these factors are the patient’s symptoms and age.
Pneumonia can be divided into two main categories:
- Community-served pneumonia. Patients can get pneumonia from the local community and their daily environment.
- Hospital-served pneumonia. This type of pneumonia refers to patients who get pneumonia while they are hospitalized. These cases tend to be more serious, as it is not the patient’s only ailment that requires treatment. In other words, it will be an extra problem.
These tend to be bacterial infections that are present in the hospital. They tend to be quite resistant in people who are ill or recovering from other diseases. For this reason, cases of hospital-acquired pneumonia are more difficult to treat.
All kinds of pneumonia can lead to sepsis, which is when the infection spreads in the bloodstream. If the case escalates to sepsis, pneumonia can kill elderly patients or patients with weakened immune systems. The risk makes it very important to establish a treatment according to each case by taking care of their specific needs.
The physician is the most appropriate person to determine the best treatment for each patient.
What causes pneumonia?
Pneumonia can be the result of a bacterial, viral or fungal infection. Depending on the cause or etiology, the doctor may decide which treatment or alternative to choose.
Let us look at the three causes of this pathology to understand the treatments:
Viral pneumonia
The most obvious example of this type of pneumonia is when it is caused by a virus such as the flu or chickenpox.
Bacterial pneumonia
This includes:
- Pneumococci
- Staphylococci
- Gram-negative bacteria (-)
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Escherichia coli
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
The bacterial group also includes atypical variants of pneumonia. Atypical variants develop more slowly than normal cases. They are not easily detected in clinical pictures, and the pneumonia-inducing agents tend to be less common.
The bacteria that cause atypical pneumonia are the following: Legionella pneumophila, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Clamydia pneumoniae.
Fungal-related pneumonia
This type of pneumonia is the result of fungal organisms such as Candida or Pneumocystis jiroveci. This type of pneumonia is more common in patients with weakened immune systems. For example, these could be patients with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) or AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
Treatment of pneumonia
In general , the treatment of pneumonia consists of administering antibiotics to the patient. Depending on what caused the infection, its characteristics and the patient’s general state of health, the doctor will prescribe a specific antibiotic or choose a combination of several.
These are the variants of treatment that are available according to the etiology:
Treatment of pneumonia: Pneumococcal pneumonia
The most common pneumonia in this group is streptococcus pneumoniae . To treat this case, doctors administer amoxicillin. However, it is quite likely that the bacterium is resistant to this antibiotic.
If the body shows resistance, treatment may include other types of medication:
- Cephalosporins
- Clindamycin
- Cefuroxime
- Erythromycin (in cases of more serious infections)
There is also a vaccine available for streptococcal pneumonia. It is aimed at children and people over the age of 50. However, it does not prevent pneumonia caused by other causes, such as those we mentioned above.
Treatment of pneumonia: Staphylococcal pneumonia
Among this type of pneumonia, the main cause is taphylococcus aureus . The treatment for this type of pneumonia requires penicillinase.
Among the available penicillinase types we find:
- Fluloxacillin. This medicine counteracts the micro-organism’s beta-lactamase (penicillinase).
- Cephalosporins including cephalothin and cefamandole.
- Clindamycin. Effective against 90% of bacterial strains.
Treatment of pneumonia: Gram-negative bacterial pneumonia
In the Gram-negative group, the main causes of pneumonia are the following:
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Klebsiella pneumoniae
- Escherichia coli
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
The corresponding treatments for each individual are:
- Haemophilus influenzae . There is a vaccine available for Haemophilus influenzae type B. As a preventive measure, it is recommended that all children receive the vaccine. The drug of choice is trimethoprim-sulfa, which is an antibiotic that combines trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole. Other antibiotics are: cephalosporins for Gram-negative, amoxicillin, fluoroquinolones and azithromycin.
- Klebsiella pneumoniae . This bacterium is resistant to ampicillin and to a number of beta-lactamases. However, it is very susceptible to antibiotics such as aminoglycosides and cephalosporins.
- Escherichia coli . Treatment of pneumonia targeting this bacterium requires that the patient be hospitalized for assisted breathing. This can provide them with adequate oxygen. In such cases , the doctor chooses to give fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins as cefixime.
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa . To establish an effective treatment for these cases, the doctor needs to take a biopsy and base the treatment on the results. This bacterium is resistant to many types of antibiotics.
Atypical treatment of pneumonia
Legionella pneumophila pneumonia
- The preferred drug that fights legionella is erythromycin.
- If the case is severe, rifampin may compliment erythromycin.
- Other alternatives may be ciprofloxacino, azithromycin or other medicines chosen by medical specialists.
Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia
Most patients infected with this bacterium can overcome the infection with or without treatment. In cases of the former, the antibiotic of choice is erythromycin.
However, the treatment can also use the following:
- Tetracycline
- Clarithromycin
- Azithromycin
Clamydia pneumoniae pneumonia
This bacterium usually leads to cases that are severe enough to require hospitalization. Treatments usually involve the administration of doxycycline, with the exception of cases of patients with chronic heart-related diseases or other problems.
Other commonly used medications for this type of infection are erythromycin and tetracycline. The treatment usually lasts for a period of 10 to 21 days.
Treatment of viral pneumonia
When the results of the pneumonia treatment form a virus, antiviral drugs such as acyclovir can be recommended to treat lung infections caused by herpes simplex, herpes zoster or chickenpox.
Pneumonia caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) can be treated with ganciclovir. However, it has not been shown to be effective in treating patients with AIDS.
Some patients develop bacterial infections that require antibiotic treatment. If a patient has a viral infection, it is recommended that they take pain and fever-reducing medications as well as cough medicine.
Treatment of fungal pneumonia
In this case, doctors administer antifungal drugs :
- Amphotericin B
- Fluconazole
- Itraconazole
- Flucytosine
These drugs can cause some unfortunate side effects. Users should notify their doctor if they experience any of the following side effects:
- Increasing sensitivity to the sun (especially the eyes)
- Fever
- Freezing
- Skin rash
- Itch
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
