Pneumonia And Tuberculosis

2451 Words5 Pages

Pneumonia and Tuberculosis

Pneumonia and tuberculosis have been plaguing the citizens of the world

for centuries causing millions of deaths. This occurred until the creation and

use of antibiotics become more widely available. These two respiratory

infections have many differences, which include their etiology, incidence and

prevalence, and many similarities in their objective and subject indicators,

medical interventions, course, rehabilitation and effects.

To explore the relationship between pneumonia and tuberculosis we will

examine a case study. Joan is a 35 year old women who was feeling fine up till

a few weeks ago when she develop a sore throat. Since her sore throat she had

been experiencing chest pain, a loss of appetite, coughing and a low fever so

she went to visit her doctor. Her doctor admitted her to the hospital with

bacterial pneumonia and after three days of unsuccessful treatment it was

discovered that she actually had active tuberculosis. This misdiagnosis shows

the similarities between the two diseases and how easily they can be confused.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs with

exudation and consolidation. Pneumonia can be one of two types: lobar pneumonia

or bronchial pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia affects one lobe of a lung while

bronchial pneumonia affects the areas closest to the bronchi (O'Toole, 1992).

In the United States over three million people are infected with pneumonia each

year; five percent of which die.

Etiology

There are over 30 causes for pneumonia however there are 4 main causes

which are bacterial, viral, mycoplasma and fungal (American Lung Association,

1996). Bacterial pneumonia attacks everyone from young to old, however

"alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory

disease or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at

greater risk" (American Lung Association, 1996). The Pneumococcusis bacteria,

which is classified as Streptococcus pneumoniae, causes bacterial pneumonia and

can be prevented by a vaccine. In 20 - 30% of the cases the infection spreads

to the blood stream (MedicineNet, 1997) which can lead to secondary infections.

Viral pneumonia accounts for half of all pneumonia cases (American Lung

Association, 1996) unfortunately there is no effective tre...

... middle of paper ...

...sis can be kept under

control with the use of antibiotics and the earlier that the infection is caught

the better chance of a prompt recovery.

References

American Lung Association. (1996). Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL:

http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/lunpneumonia.html

American Lung Association. (1996) Tuberculosis [Online]. Available URL:

http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/luntb.html

Cook, Allan R., & Dresser, Peter D. (Ed.). (1995). Respiratory diseases and

disorders sourcebook (6). Detroit: Omnigraphics Inc.

Galantino, Mary Lou., & Bishop, Kathy Lee. (1994, February). The new TB. PT

Magazine. P. 53-61

MedicineNet. (1997). Diseases & treatments: pneumonia [Online]. Available

URL: http://www.medicinenet.com/mainmenu/encyclop/ARTICLE/Art_P/pneumon.htm

National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. (1989). Med

Facts Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.hjc.org/MFhtml/PNE_MF.html

O'Toole, M. (Ed.). (1992). Miller-Keane encyclopedia and dictionary of

medicine, nursing, and allied health. Toronto: W.B. Saunders.

Schlossberg, David. (Ed.). (1994). Tuberculosis (3rd ed.). New York:

Springer - Verlag.

More about Pneumonia And Tuberculosis

Open Document