Calling your health care provider
Call your doctor if you have:
- Worsening respiratory symptoms
- Shortness of breath, shaking chills, or persistent fevers
- Rapid or painful breathing
- A cough that brings up bloody or rust-colored mucus
- Chest pain that worsens when you cough or inhale
- Night sweats or unexplained weight loss
- Signs of pneumonia and weak immune system, as with HIV or chemotherapy
Infants with pneumonia may not have a cough. Call your doctor if your infant makes grunting noises or the area below the rib cage is retracting while breathing.
Prevention
- Wash your hands frequently, especially after blowing your nose, going to the bathroom, diapering, and before eating or preparing foods.
- Don't smoke. Tobacco damages your lung's ability to ward off infection.
- Wear a mask when cleaning dusty or moldy areas
Vaccines can help prevent pneumonia in children, the elderly, and people with diabetes, asthma, emphysema, HIV, cancer, or other chronic conditions:
- Pneumococcal vaccine (Pneumovax, Prevnar) prevents Streptococcus pneumoniae.
- Flu vaccine prevents pneumonia and other infections caused by influenza viruses. It must be given yearly to protect against new viral strains.
- Hib vaccine prevents pneumonia in children from Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Taking deep breaths may help prevent pneumonia if you are in the hospital -- for example, while recovering from surgery. Often, a breathing device will be given to you to assist in deep breathing.
If you have cancer or HIV, you should talk to your doctor about additional ways to prevent pneumonia.
References
Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, eds. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 5th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2002;
Cohen J, Powderly WG. Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Elsevier, 2004.
Mandell, GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles of Infectious Diseases. 5th ed. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone, 2000.
Mandell LA, Wunderink RG, Anzueto A, et al. Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society consensus guidelines on the management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. Clin Infect Dis. 2007 Mar 1;44 Suppl 2:S27-72.
American Thoracic Society. Guidelines for the management of adults with hospital-acquired, ventilator-associated, and healthcare-associated pneumonia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005 Feb 15;171(4):388-416.
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