Once called "Winter Fever," the symptoms of pneumonia have been known since the time of Greek physician Hippocrates, who commented on it about 460 BC.
It wasn't until the late 1800s that the bacterial cause of pneumonia was identified. By the 1930s, and with the development of antibiotics, more people began to survive the lung disease.
While treatment today is effective, pneumonia remains the foremost cause of infectious death in infants and children under 5 worldwide.
Pneumonia is an inflammation or infection of the lungs. Air sacs in one or more lung lobes fill with pus or other fluids and prevent inhaled oxygen from reaching the blood.
Viral pneumonia is a condition that occurs after a viral disease, such as influenza. But pneumonia can also be caused by bacteria or a fungus.
Pneumonia ranges in severity from mild to severe and can be fatal. Viral and bacterial pneumonia are contagious; fungal are not. Vaccines are available to protect against some bacterial types and antibiotics to treat others.
Protect yourself from pneumonia by washing your hands frequently; taking care of your general health by not smoking and by getting exercise; and avoiding people who are ill, especially those sneezing and coughing.
Two big steps at prevention: Get a flu and pneumonia shot. 103.txt
