Viral pneumonia is a disease in which the lower respiratory tract becomes inflamed. The causative agents of pneumonia are viruses, less often bacteria or fungi, which against the background of a general weakening of immunity attack the cells of the body and successfully reproduce in them. Most often, the virus causes influenza A and B, adenovirus, respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza in children.
Symptomatology and development of pneumonia
Viral pneumonia, the incubation period of which lasts from three to five days, is often misled by the similarity of symptoms characteristic of ODS or influenza. Since infection of the body occurs against the background of these diseases, it can be diagnosed by worsening the patient's condition, despite the treatment of these diseases.
Symptoms of viral pneumonia are manifested in a chill that indicates a strong intoxication of the body. He suffers sick:
- severe fever;
- pain and aches all over the body;
- thread in the field of eyeballs;
- coryza;
- unproductive, dry cough .
Some viruses-pathogens provoke headache, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, which are nothing more than an organism's response to intoxication and its protective reaction. High temperature indicates an adequate response of the body to manifestations of the virus. If the temperature does not get out, then the inflammatory process has begun.
Diagnosis of the disease
Viral pneumonia, the symptoms and treatment of which in the initial stage have been misdiagnosed, and the drugs are prescribed after a few days, can be aggravated by the addition of bacteria, and this complicates the patient's condition. There is pain in the chest area, a strong cough with the separation of phlegm and mucus with inclusions of pus. Given the combination of symptoms and indications of fluoroscopy, the doctor can diagnose viral pneumonia, and prescribe a treatment.
Treatment and prevention of pneumonia
Pneumonia is a viral disease, and drugs prescribed by a doctor are symptomatic and antiviral. Antiviral drugs are effective only if they are taken no later than 48 hours after infection. For this reason, they are prescribed to patients for prevention at the first symptoms.
If time is lost, further use of antiviral drugs does not make sense. Before treating viral pneumonia, which can not be diagnosed immediately, the patient is prescribed cough preparations. At a time when the cough is no longer dry, and sputum appears, the use of these drugs must be stopped immediately. Further reception of such drugs will entail a complication in the form of pneumothorax - air accumulation in the lungs.
To facilitate the departure of phlegm, the doctor prescribes expectorant in the form of tablets, syrups and inhalations with these drugs, as well as drainage massage. After the bacteria are added to the common disease, pneumonia is prescribed antibiotics, depending on the patient's condition and the course of the illness.
The course of antibiotic treatment lasts from seven to ten days. In this case, the patient is prescribed a bed rest in a hospital in a medical institution. Since viral pneumonia is transmitted by airborne droplets, the patient is in quarantine to avoid the spread of infection.
Consequences of the disease
Viral pneumonia, the treatment of which was successful due to the timely diagnosis, takes two, three weeks without any significant consequences. But more often patients do not always go to the doctor on time, referring to the fact that they have the flu and prescribe themselves treatment, guided by the abundance of advertising medications on TV. In the treatment of advanced pneumonia, cases of complications are frequent, such as:
- obstructive bronchitis ;
- chronic respiratory failure;
- pneumosclerosis.