We all know that pneumonia is one serious disease and when the signs or symptoms are neglected, it can pose great damage to our health. However, it is better if we also know what causes pneumonia so that we can make necessary precautions in order to avoid it. Like we hear time and time again, “prevention is always better and easier than the cure”.
Thus, here are the causes of pneumonia:
1. Virus and Bacteria. Viral and bacterial infection is one of the most common causes of pneumonia where the strength of the disease can vary greatly, depending on which types of virus or bacteria have infected the patient. The most common type of bacteria that causes bacterial pneumonia is Streptococcus pneumoniae. In addition to that, there are also some major bacteria that can cause pneumonia like Chlamydia trachomatis, Haemophilus influenzae, Legionella pneumophila and Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Those bacteria are almost everywhere and for that reason the probability of pneumonia infection is high at any age. However, there are pre-identified age brackets that are more prone to pneumonia. Those are people with very young age and with very old age. This is because their immune systems are already lowered as compared to other age groups.
2. Fungi. In the United States, there are specific places that have been identified with specific fungi that can cause pneumonia. If you have heard of the “San Joaquin Fever” or for others the “Valley Fever”, they are pneumonia diseases that are caused by a certain fungal infection called Coccidiodomycosis. In addition, Blastomycosis and Histoplasmosis are other type of fungal diseases that have the ability to cause pneumonia.
3. Toxic Materials. Additionally, certain harmful chemicals can also cause pneumonia. Though the cases are rare, they do exist. Some of the types of these harmful chemicals include certain gases, liquids, fumes and even small particles.
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4. Infected Air. All of us must be reminded that pneumonia can easily be transferred from one person to another. This means that if you inhaled or breathed the air coming from someone that has pneumonia, then the probability of you being infected as well is high. In addition to the air from pneumonia patient, not cleaned or improperly clean air conditioning unit can also cause pneumonia.
5. Body Infection. Infection from other parts of the body can also cause pneumonia. This means that even though you haven’t inhaled any virus or bacteria carrying pneumonia, still you can suffer from the disease. This happens when the infection from any part of your body such as from the kidney or stomach spreads and reaches the lungs.
Having knowledge of the causes of pneumonia, you can now deduce that it is essential to maintain optimal health and fitness in order to stay healthy and disease free. By maintaining our health we are in fact boosting our immune system and therefore, if we do come into contact with infection our body will be better prepared to fight it. You can also see that being caught out in the rain or dressing improperly during cold weather is not the cause of pneumonia.