Pneumonia-What Happens
Pneumonia-What Happens
After you've been infected with a pneumonia-causing organism, it takes as little as 1 to 3 days or as long as 7 to 10 days for symptoms to appear. How severe pneumonia is and how long it lasts depend on:
In healthy people, pneumonia can be a mild illness that is hardly noticed and clears up in 2 to 3 weeks. In older adults and in people with other health problems, recovery may take 6 to 8 weeks or longer.
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LAM lung disease (lymphangioleiomyomatosis) is a rare lung disease that tends to affect women of childbearing age.In LAM lung disease, muscle cells that line the lungs' airways and blood vessels begin to multiply abnormally. These muscle cells spread into areas of the lung where they don't belong.The air sacs in the lung also swell and form small pockets called cysts. As the cysts develop throughout the lungs, LAM causes breathing problems similar to emphysema.The muscle cells can spread...
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If you have severe pneumonia, you may have to go to the hospital:
If your pneumonia is caused by a virus or bacteria, you may spread the infection to other people while you are contagious. How long you are contagious depends on what is causing the pneumonia and whether you get treatment. You may be contagious for several days to a week.
If you get antibiotics, you usually cannot spread the infection to others after a day of treatment.
- Your age and health. Older, sicker people usually have more severe cases. And their cases of pneumonia are more likely to cause complications, such as bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteremia) or throughout the body (septicemia).
- Whether bacteria or a virus caused the pneumonia. Viral pneumonia usually is less severe than bacterial pneumonia.
- How quickly you treat it. The sooner you treat pneumonia, the sooner symptoms go away.
- Your immune system. People who have impaired immune systems are more likely to have more severe pneumonia than people who have healthy immune systems.
In healthy people, pneumonia can be a mild illness that is hardly noticed and clears up in 2 to 3 weeks. In older adults and in people with other health problems, recovery may take 6 to 8 weeks or longer.
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LAM Lung Disease (Lymphangioleiomyomatosis)
LAM lung disease (lymphangioleiomyomatosis) is a rare lung disease that tends to affect women of childbearing age.In LAM lung disease, muscle cells that line the lungs' airways and blood vessels begin to multiply abnormally. These muscle cells spread into areas of the lung where they don't belong.The air sacs in the lung also swell and form small pockets called cysts. As the cysts develop throughout the lungs, LAM causes breathing problems similar to emphysema.The muscle cells can spread...
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Going to the hospital
If you have severe pneumonia, you may have to go to the hospital:
- In most cases of pneumonia you get in your daily life, such as at school or work (community-based pneumonia), it is not necessary to go to the hospital.1
- About one-third of people with community-based pneumonia are age 65 or older.1 Older adults are treated in the hospital more often and stay longer for the condition than younger people.1 Pneumonia is more serious in this group, because they often have and may develop other medical problems.
Spreading pneumonia to others
If your pneumonia is caused by a virus or bacteria, you may spread the infection to other people while you are contagious. How long you are contagious depends on what is causing the pneumonia and whether you get treatment. You may be contagious for several days to a week.
If you get antibiotics, you usually cannot spread the infection to others after a day of treatment.
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