Concerned about pneumonia? This blog explains this lung infection, its various causes, and common symptoms like cough and shortness of breath.
Shortness of breath and cough? Perhaps you have pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection of the lung. Pneumonia is dangerous. Accurate diagnosis is needed. Imaging tests like CT scans or chest X-ray may help.
Pneumonia is when the infected little areas in your lungs get infected. The areas are alveoli. They become filled with fluid or pus. It is hard to breathe. Oxygen can't travel into your blood as quickly.
Why do Pneumonias occur?
A small number of germs cause pneumonia-
- Bacteria: One of the most usual causes is Streptococcus pneumonia. Others include Haemophilus influenzae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
- Viruses: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in young children. Influenza viruses and coronaviruses infect and cause pneumonia.
- Fungi: Fungus infection pneumonia may be caused by illness such as Pneumocystis jirovecii, in the majority of the immune-compromised individuals.
- Aspiration: You breathe food, liquid, or vomit into your lungs.
Who Can Get Pneumonia?
Some are more likely than others to get pneumonia.
- Young Children: Immune systems of young children have not developed.
- Older Adults: Immunes of older adults are suppressed.
- Those with Chronic Illnesses: Asthma, COPD, and cardiovascular disease put patients at risk.
- Those with Compromised Immunes: HIV/AIDS-positive individuals, organ recipients, and chemotherapy drug users are here.
- Smokers: Cigarettes kill lungs.
Signs of Pneumonia
Symptoms of pneumonia are varied. They are milder or worse:
- Cough: It is usually phlegmy (mucousy) or dry. Mucus is yellow, green, or bloody.
- Fever: Typically high and typically with chills.
- Shortness of Breath: Having difficulty breathing enough.
- Chest Pain: Usually stabbing and aggravating with coughing or more with deep breaths.
- Fatigue: Extremely tired.
- Rapid Breathing: Tachypnea, breathing more rapidly than normal.
- Rapid Heartbeat: Racy beeping of the heart or Palpitation.
- Confusion: More so in older patients.
- Loss of Appetite: Not hungry.
How is Pneumonia Diagnosed?
Physicians utilize patient individualized techniques to diagnose.
- Medical History and Physical Exam: Your physician or radiologist will listen to your symptoms. They will place a stethoscope on your lungs and listen. They will take your heart rate and breathing.
- Chest X-ray: It is the standard imaging study for pneumonia. It can provide them with information whether there is infection or not in your lungs. It can give them information about how much of your lungs is infected.
- Blood Tests: They will check you for infection. They will check your blood oxygen as well.
- Sputum Test: When you spit up mucus, it gets sent to the lab to find out what germ is infecting you.
- Pulse Oximetry: A reading of a level of oxygen in the blood is done by a machine on your finger.
- CT Scan of Chest: Occasionally, a CT scan is needed. It takes more pictures of your lungs than an X-ray takes and will be able to see pneumonia that cannot be seen on an X-ray. It can help with looking for complications.
Why Imaging is Important in the Diagnosis of Pneumonia?
Imaging is very important in the diagnosis of pneumonia:
- Confirmation: Infection in the lungs can be confirmed by a CT scan or a chest X-ray.
- Limit of Infection: Imaging will show the limit of infection of the lung.
- Site of Infection: Imaging will show where infection in the lung has occurred.
- Complications: Imaging will show whether complications like abscesses in the lung or effusion around the lung have occurred.
- Differential Diagnosis: Other diseases caused by the same symptoms would be excluded by imaging.
Tests to detect and diagnose Pneumonia-
- CBC (Complete Blood Test) (Book Now)
- X-ray of chest (Book Now)
- Bacterial Pneumonial Panel PCR (Book Now)
- Biofire Pneumonia Plus (Book Now)
- Chlamydia pneumonia IgA (Book Now)
Preparation for Chest X-ray or CT Scan for Pneumonia
Preparation for a chest X-ray is usually not time-consuming. You will remove any jewelry or other metal objects in front of your chest. You will have to stand or sit before the machine. Instructions on breathing will be given to you by the technologist.
Preparation for a chest CT scan will take an extra minute. You will be asked to fast for a few hours before. Sometimes, you will receive a shot of contrast dye to make the pictures clearer. Contrast dye is injected into your vein through an IV line. Let your doctor know if you are allergic, especially to contrast dye. Dress in loose clothing. You will be asked to lie on a sliding table that will be pushed into the CT scanner machine. You will be required to remain perfectly still during the test.
Your imaging facility will provide some guidelines before your test. Listen to them and know the guidelines to follow.
Conclusion
Pneumonia is acute lung infection. It's very important to perform an early diagnosis. Chest X-ray and CT scan imaging tests are found to be helpful. Choosing the best imaging centre like Ganesh Diagnostic Centre will provide you with quality imaging required for correct treatment and diagnosis. If your physician suggests you might have pneumonia, finding a quality "imaging center near me" is the best method to start the process of healing.
FAQs
Q. Pneumonia stands for?
Pneumonia stands for the infection that affects one or both lungs.
Q. What is the cost of a viral pneumonia test in Delhi?
The cost of viral pneumonia ranges between 5000 to 7000 INR in Delhi, you can book this test at Ganesh Diagnostic and Imaging Centre.
Q. What are the symptoms of pneumonia?
The signs of pneumonia are fever, cough, shortness of breath, confusion and loss of appetite.
Q. What are the types of Pneumonia?
There are three types of pneumonia such as bacterial, fungal and viral pneumonia.
Q. How to book the pneumonia test online?
You can book pneumonia tests online by searching “no.1 imaging centre near me” or you can trust Ganesh Diagnostic and imaging centre for the transparency of cost and quality. Who offers all Pneumonia tests at lowest cost in Delhi.
