Since it seems to be an ordinary disease today, I thought I’d ask other Dopers.
I have pneumonia. [thanks, I’m on my last day of anti-biotics, I ought to feel better soon. :)]
Am I contagious?
My two 16 month old twin cousins are coming over on Christmas. They are vunarable to colds, etc. I rather get run over by Santa’s sleigh, than giving those little guys my germs.
How long will it be before I feel like the old gum again? [considering my medical condition isn’t all that great]
Yes, pneumonia can be contagious. It sounds like you’ve been treated, so the best thing to do is call your doc and ask him/her if it’s OK to be around the twin cousins. Even if you’re told it’s OK to be around them, it’s probably wise to avoid big wet sloppy kisses or drinking from the same class, etc. And wash your hands often.
As to how long it takes to get well, that varies. I had double pneumonia in February, and spent a week in the hospital plus a week of bedrest at home, and it still took me about 3 months to feel totally like myself again. (FWIW, I’m 27 and have no underlying health issues. My case was unusally severe for someone of my age and general health). Do what your doctor tells you, get lots of rest and lots of fluid, and DON’T overestimate how good you feel; I nearly passed out at work one day from trying to convince everyone how much better I felt.
Pneumonia sucks, and you have my sincerest sympathy. Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Pneumonia, from what I know, is contagious through droplet trnasmission. That is, the virus/bacteria that’s causing it has to hitch a ride on your mucus or saliva to get from you tom someone else. In that vein, make sure to wash your hands, maybe even wash the doorknobs and other places you touched a lot while sick that they might touch. Don’t give them kisses, cough or sneeze near them, etc…
But a call to your doctor to ask your level of contagiousness to young ones is best, and yeah, recovery time can very. I had pneumonia last February (after having the flu in December and again right before the pneumonia.) I had the pneumonia for about two weeks (I did nothing the first week, then got some antibiotics and it cleared up.) I felt fine afterwards, no lingering effects, which I think is amazing considering all told I was sick for almost an entire month.
I know this sounds condescending, and I’m apologizing in advance. I just don’t know how to say it otherwise. Who told you you had “double pneumonia?” I’ve heard this term from medically unsophicated people for years, and I’m curious.
Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs. It causes pneumonitis, which is the inflamation of the alveloi where oxygen is exchange for CO[sub]2[/sub], causing the symptoms of shortness of breath, defuse chest pain, increased mucus production, leading to the inability to exchange oxygen and CO[sub]2[/sub] at the alveoliar level. If not treated before this, the person is quite ill, possibly approaching unconsciousness. It can be this bad with as little as 30% of the alveoli affected.
It can affect one lobe, several lobes, one lung, both lungs. Where ever it starts, if left untreated it will affect more tissue. The more tissue involved, sicker the individual gets. If not treated, it might resolve, but it also might go the other way. But, its still called pneumonia, not double, not walking or any other modifier.
Many people think they have pneumonia, when in fact, they have bronchitis (inflamation of the large airways) or bronchiolitis (inflamation of the medium sized airways.) The individual is still pretty sick, short of breath, coughing etc, and in rare cases can progress into pneumonitis/pneumonia.
Severe respiratory illnesses that cause dramatic shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, blueness or extreme palor, esp noticable around the mouth, and at the nailbeds should be seen by a doctor immediately. That means 911.
If you can say, “Hello, I need an appointment because I think I have pneumonia.” without taking a breath between each word (maybe two for “pneumonia”), you more likely have bronchitis. It still doesn’t hurt to see a doc, you might need treatment. but you don’t need to get there in the big, loud, truck.
As far as contagiousness, goes, its not an airborne illness. If you wash your hands often, and make sure everyone else does too, don’t cough directly into the mouth of your visitor, it shouldn’t be a problem. Use tissues once, throw them away into a closed container. If you sneeze unexpectedly, do so in the crook of your elbow, not your hand.
If it was airborne, I’d have been dead long ago. I’ve only been infected by a patient once, and that was actually the patient’s mother. I got pertussis because she hugged me. She probably got it in my hair, which was shoulder length, thn it got in my face.
My doctor. What I had was pneumonia affecting both lungs (left lower lobe, right lower and middle lobes), and he used the term “double pneumonia” to describe the condition to my family, so that they would understand that both lungs were involved. In my case, the illness progressed from fatigue on Tuesday (which I first assumed was from working two very tough shifts in the ER over the weekend) to slight pain in the chest on Wednesday (thought I’d pulled a muscle) to inablility to breathe or move without pain by the wee hours of Thursday morning. My “pulled muscle” was pleurisy, which I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. :eek:
Community acquired pneumonia is divided up into different groups. You are group one: basically young and healthy outpatient. The cause is likely either the bacteria Strep Pneumonia or viral or a combination of the two or possible Mycoplasma. If you presented with fever and a focal inflitrate (either by X-Ray or by clinical exam) then Strep Pneumonia is extremely likely part of the picture. Virus are more commonly the sole agent in younger children than in adults. Older or health impaired aduts are much more likely to have drug resistant bugs and to require hospitalization. Most of the rest with pneumonia can walk in to the doctor and talk without having to catch their breath.
Odds are your nephews are already colonized with Strep Pneumonia. Or more likely have been immunized for it nowadays (Prevnar, great shot!) And if you are past 24 to 48 hours of treatment then you are unlikely to be contagious with it. The viral process may be contagious longer, but is most contagious the day before you know that you are ill and for the first several days of the illness. It is a pretty steep drop off after that.
When people say they have “walking pneumonia” they usually mean that they were told it was pneumonia and put on meds, but that they weren’t really all that sick. They probably had localized rales but no high fever. Viral or Mycoplasma rather than a lobar bacterial process are likely.
Not to be obnoxious picunurse but Pertussis is large airborne droplet transmission. Considered contagious by close contact, eg within three feet for over ten minutes. Farther away and those droplets have settled down to ground (not like the aerosol transmission of say chicken pox). Your patient probably just coughed in your face.
DSeid, no offense taken. My focus is critical care. I guess I just haven’t seen the less serious forms of pneumonia, and made some assumptions, I apologize.
My patient was intubated and in isolation, but, her mother was sick too, and a hug implies closer than 3 feet. I guess I wasn’t clear, I meant that was the only illness I’d ever aquired from a patient or family in 30 years. I was bitten once, but that’s another thread.
I didn’t even know I had it. I went for my annual physical, and the NP did a nasal swab.
At that particular hospital, all employees, having patient contact, are swabbed for MRSA once a year. She asked about at-risk situations and I told her I was caring for the baby with pertussis, so she did both tests. MRSA neg, pertussis poss. Me, home for 3 weeks with L&I payments on antibiotics, feeling fine.
My mother has been told she either has pneumonia or emphysema and is currently on oxygen. The last time I spoke to her (she lives on the other side of the country) she told me her primary doctor thinks it was pneumonia.
If it is emphysema (and I sure hope not!) can anyone tell me anything about her prognosis? Thanks.
picunurse, around my parts we are still in a community outbreak of pertussis. Quite a bit of mild but annoying cases in older kids and probably undiagnosed in adults. But spreading it around. I’m just waiting for some infant to get it and get really sick. So far it has worked its way from the High Schools into one middle school. Look for a fifth grade or HS booster to get approved and advised soon.
Gum, presuming you were on the 3-day Zithro, you should be feeling better now. If not then call your doc. You may need a different med.
My case was several years ago, at the very beginning of an outbreak in San Deigo. It came over the border, it seemed all in one day. It went from the case I was taking care of not being diagnosed for 3 days, to, it seemed the whole county hacking away.
The immunization is very effective for about 5 years. After that, its said, that the vaccine is more of a problem than the disease. I’m wondering, though, if that shouldn’t be revisited.
Even if every child is vaccinated, eventually its going to get one (or more) not yet old enough for the vaccine. Its horrible to see a healthy baby die from, what is to an adult, a bad cold.
That winter, I think we had a total of 25 sick enough for the ICU, At least 15 of those required ventilatory support. Most were under 4 months old. The others were either not vaccinated because the were from rural Mexico, or their parents were Berkenstockers who didn’t get them vaccinated because it wasn’t “natural.” Oh, don’t let me start…
Thanks for the replies and well-wishes all. I really appreciate it. lavenderlemon, All the best to your mom. I have both. That’s why I said my medical condition isn’t all that great.
Tell her to stop smoking now. Emphysema is irreversible, but if you stop smoking you can prevent it from becoming worse. Good luck to her. [and you] DSeid, Thank you. No, not a three day Zithro.
I had something called: ‘Tavanic’. It contains Levofloxacine and is a chinolon-antibioticum. I had 14 tablets, two a day.
I’m still rather breathless and my heart is doing the rumba, but that can be the emphysema, I suppose? The high fever is down.
Quite the opposite with me, in fact. About ten years ago, I thought I had bronchitis (did not feel deathly ill), went to the doctor for tests, hoping for some cough meds, and was quite surprised to be told I had pneumonia.
Strictly speaking pneumonia is not contagious but the bacteria can be shed in the sputum then transferred to your hand and then to your mouth and inhaled. That is why every pneumonia patient gets the “you need to spit in a tissue and place the tissue in the trash then wash your hands” speech. You would not believe how many patients want to spit in an emesis basin and have me empty it. :eek: Uhm, no. I throw the basin away and get them a box of tissues and a trash bag instead.
I’ve had pneumonia and had a fever, productive cough and extreme fatigue but I was able to carry on a converstion. I’ve also had asthma exacerbations that dropped my peak flow to 150 making it hard for me to get more than one or two words out at a time.
My point is often there are several processes doing on simultaneously. You can have pneumonia with bronchospasms, asthma with no infection or a wide range of something in between.
While most patients are hospitalized for approx 5 days it can take a good two weeks or more to get back to normal. Again that depends on the state of your lungs normally and whether you have any co-morbid conditions.
Now get some rest, drink plenty of fluids and work on your coughing & deep breathing and activity progression.
[hijack] What about those with asthma? I’ve got severe asthma and I’ve always heard that people with asthma who get pneumonia require hospitalization. Is this really true? [/hijack]
