PRAIRIE DOC®
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing

How We Get Bacterial Pneumonia

3/5/2019

 

How We Get Bacterial Pneumonia

By Richard P. Holm, MD
 
My good friend, a single man in his 60s, didn’t like going to the medical clinic for anything, let alone a cold. His illness started with a fever, aches all over and a sudden overabundance of mucus. After one or two days of those obvious viral symptoms, for which we have no good therapy, he got better, except he acquired a new dry hacky cough.
 
Initially he did what he should have and stopped going to work, put a box of tissues and a waste basket next to his comfort chair, drank plenty of hot lemonade and tea, got plenty of rest and took Tylenol. After a few days and while covering his dry cough and washing his hands a lot, he went back to work. So far, so good . . .
 
On day five or six, he developed a fever again with new and profound weakness. His dry cough became productive and the mucus occasionally was streaked with blood. After one more day of fever, he developed shaking chills, and his daughter called me to explain her dad seemed to be in trouble. We got him to the emergency room where they began powerful intravenous antibiotics. He had pneumonia, a life-threatening bacterial lung infection, which invaded because the viral infection first weakened his lung defenses. The bacterial infection had also spread into his blood stream and was disseminating throughout his body. This is called sepsis and it kills unless treated very early.
 
My friend was very sick for about four weeks but recovered to be strong enough to go back to work again thanks to excellent medical and nursing care with effective support, antibiotics and rehabilitation. In retrospect, antibiotics would not have helped if they were started too early during the viral process. The time to attack early with antibiotics should have been at the time of the second fever. Studies show if antibiotics are given during the viral infection, a bacterial pneumonia will still follow in about the same frequency, only now there will likely be resistance to that specific antibiotic.
 
Take home message:
  1. Bacterial pneumonia can follow a viral respiratory infection, but, antibiotics won’t help until the bacterial infection begins;
  2. We should all cover our coughs, wash our hands frequently and keep our fingers out of our own eyes and noses;
  3. The flu shot saves lives by preventing the viral infection in the first place.
 
For free and easy access to the entire Prairie Doc® library, visit www.prairiedoc.org and follow The Prairie Doc® on Facebook, featuring On Call with the Prairie Doc® a medical Q&A show streaming live and broadcast on SDPTV most Thursdays at 7 p.m. central.                                                                      

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Subscribe to Newsletter
Picture
PRAIRIE DOC® MEDIA IS A PART OF HEALING WORDS FOUNDATION.

Healing Words Foundation logo
FIND SCIENCE-BASED PEDIATRIC MEDICAL INFORMATION ON OUR SISTER SITE. 
Play Eat Sleep logo
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing