Pneumonia In The Geriatric Pneumonia in the elderly is something that needs to be taken very seriously in this day and age. According to the Center Of Disease Control, statistics say that over 800 million seniors above the age of 65 are at risk for pneumonia. They also say that 1 out of 20 adults that get pneumonia die. What is pneumonia? “Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be caused by fungi, virus, bacteria, and many other germs,” says Dr. Norman Edelman, the chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. What this infection causes is inflammation of the lungs; more specifically, this is inflammation of the alveoli which results in fluid in the alveoli sacs. The alveoli is where the oxygen transfer to the blood takes place, so with the inflammation, it makes it hard for the individual to breath or do any physical activity. This paper will be covering the signs and symptoms to watch for, how to go about getting it diagnosed, treatment and what to expect, preventative measures, different types of causative agents, and if left untreated the type of complications to expect from pneumonia. When you are talking about pneumonia with the elderly, it is not something one wants to take lightly. The signs and symptoms that elderly exhibit can be much different from someone in their mid-ages. The most common symptoms that are related with pneumonia are: malaise or feeling weak, cough, green or yellow sputum, pain in the chest, confusion, fever, chills, and shortness of breath. The most common home diagnoses would be that someone feels as if they have the cold or the flu. With the elderly, these are some of the many reasons why it is so dangerous. The elderly immune system is a lot slower to respond to fight the infe... ... middle of paper ... ...o Pneumonia, it causes respiratory failure. The treatment for this would most likely be ventilator breathing for the patient with supplemental oxygen. (Boothby, L. A. (2004) Pneumonia is a very dangerous infection for the elderly. Any geriatric patient who is susceptible to getting sick should be very careful around the public and should constantly be washing their hands. With signs and symptoms of Pneumonia it is very important to get to the treatment before the infections get worse and the patient needs to be hospitalized. The quicker the better. It could be a life saving measure. In this Informative Essay the following topics have been covered as in, the signs and symptoms to watch for, how to go about getting diagnosed, treatment, preventative measures, different types of causative agents, and if left untreated the type of complications you can acquire.
Mrs. Jones, An elderly woman, presented severely short of breath. She required two rest periods in order to ambulate across the room, but refused the use of a wheel chair. She was alert and oriented, but was unable to speak in full sentences. Her skin was pale and dry. Her vital signs were as follows: Temperature 97.3°F, pulse 83, respirations 27, blood pressure 142/86, O2 saturation was 84% on room air. Auscultation of the lungs revealed crackles in the lower lobes and expiratory wheezing. Use of accessory muscles was present. She was put on 2 liters of oxygen via nasal canal. With the oxygen, her O2 saturation increased to 90%. With exertion her O2 saturation dropped to the 80's. Mrs. Jones began coughing and she produced large amounts of milky sputum.
Epidemiology of VAP Hunter, Annadurai and Rothwell defines ventialtor-associated pneumonia as nosocomial pneumonia occurring in patients receiving more than 48 hours of mechanical ventilation via tracheal or trascheotomy tube. It is commonly classified as either early onset (occurring within 96 hours of start of mechanical ventilation) or late onset (>96 hours after start of mechanical ventilation. A ventilator is a machine that is used to help a patient breathe by giving oxygen through an endotracheal tube, which is a tube placed in a patient’s mouth or nose, or through a tracheostomy, which is a surgical opening created trough the trachea in front of the neck. Infection may occur if bacteria or virus enters the tube into the lungs or airways by manual manipulation of the ventilator tubing. Ventilator-associated pneumonia accounts for 80% of hospital-acquired pneumonia, 8-28% of incubate... ...
Based on the subjective symptoms, it appears this patient has bronchitis, a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which is a respiratory disorder. The care plan will focus on intervention to prevent the disease from re-occurring and causing chronic bronchitis. Further assessment will be needed to obtain a baseline, so when the care plan is implemented, then it can be evaluated to measure positive outcome and where alteration will be need in the plan for a great outcome in the patient’s health.
...spiratory infections. The patient must always be under continuous scrutiny since they can undergo aspiration or lack the ability to change from the passageway to their lungs versus their stomach and their spit travels to the lungs which, in turn, causes bronchopneumonia. The patient also does not have the facility to cough and so must undertake a treatment to shake up their body to eliminate the mucus from the lining of their lungs.
My disease is Streptococcal pneumonia or pneumonia is caused by the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is present in human’s normal flora, which normally doesn’t cause any problems or diseases. Sometimes though when the numbers get too low it can cause diseases or upper respiratory tract problems or infections (Todar, 2008-2012). Pneumonia caused by this pathogen has four stages. The first one is where the lungs fill with fluid. The second stage causes neutrophils and red blood cells to come to the area which are attracted by the pathogen. The third stage has the neutrophils stuffed into the alveoli in the lungs causing little bacteria to be left over. The fourth stage of this disease the remaining residue in the lungs are take out by the macrophages. Aside from these steps pneumonia follows, if the disease should persist further, it can get into the blood causing a systemic reaction resulting in the whole body being affected (Ballough). Some signs and symptoms of this disease are, “fever, malaise, cough, pleuritic chest pain, purulent or blood-tinged sputum” (Henry, 2013). Streptococcal pneumonia is spread through person-to-person contact through aerosol droplets affecting the respiratory tract causing it to get into the human body (Henry, 2013).
The patient in the case study has been admitted to hospital with an infective exacerbation of his COPD. Respiratory infection causes increased inflammation an...
Chronic bronchitis is a disorder that causes inflammation to the airway, mainly the bronchial tubules. It produces a chronic cough that lasts three consecutive months for more than two successive years (Vijayan,2013). Chronic Bronchitis is a member of the COPD family and is prominently seen in cigarette smokers. Other factors such as air pollutants, Asbestos, and working in coal mines contributes to inflammation. Once the irritant comes in contact with the mucosa of the bronchi it alters the composition causing hyperplasia of the glands and producing excessive sputum (Viayan,2013). Goblet cells also enlarge to contribute to the excessive secretion of sputum. This effects the cilia that carry out the mechanism of trapping foreign bodies to allow it to be expelled in the sputum, which are now damaged by the irritant making it impossible for the person to clear their airway. Since the mechanism of airway clearance is ineffective, the secretion builds up a thickened wall of the bronchioles causing constriction and increasing the work of breathing. The excessive build up of mucous could set up pneumonia. The alveoli are also damaged enabling the macrophages to eliminate bacteria putting the patient at risk for acquiring an infection.
When patients finally seek help, they will usually present with a combination of symptoms such as worsening dyspnea, chronic coughing with sputum production which may or may not include acute chest pain and wheezing (Zab. M. 2014)
Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are preventable and pose a threat to hospitals and patients; increasing the cost, nominally and physically, for both. Pneumonia makes up approximately 15% of all HAI and is the leading cause of nosocomial deaths. Pneumonia is most frequently caused by bacterial microorganisms reaching the lungs by way of aspiration, inhalation or the hematogenous spread of a primary infection. There are two categories of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP); Health-Care Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) and Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).
Shoemark, A., Ozerovitch, L. and Wilson, R. 2007. Aetiology in adult patients with bronchiectasis. Epub, 101 (6), pp. 1163-70.
Pneumonia is lung inflammation caused by bacterial or viral infection, in which the air sac may fill up with fluid or pus. The strong internal defenses present in healthy individuals usually protect the body and lungs from these invading bacteria. But when a patient is immunocompromised they lack adequate functioning of these defense mechanisms making them more susceptible for acquiring pneumonia. Some people, such as organ transplant patients, patients taking immunosuppressant drugs, patients with NG tubes, are at increased risk. Other risk factors for pneumonia include smoking, excessive alcohol intake, inability to swallow due to stroke/neuromuscular disease, age over 65, malnourishment, hypoxia, and chronic lung diseases (“Pneumonia”, 2016).
Pneumonia can also become a hospital acquired infection. Ventilator-associated pneumonia is a type of lung infection that occurs in a person who has been on a ventilator.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Knowing the background information of viral pneumonia is vital in treating the disease in premature babies. Two scientists, Hippocrates and Maimonides, discovered pneumonia between 450 B.C. and 380 B.C as well as in the early nineteenth century. Hippocrates discovered pneumonia, but knew very little about it. On the other hand, Maimonides knew more about pneumonia and described it more thoroughly than Hippocrates. He described pneumonia as a disease causing acute fever, sticking pain in the side, short rapid breaths, and jagged pulse and cough (Meeks and Heit 492). “Viral pneumonia occurs more in young children than older adults because the bodies of young children have a harder time fighting off the virus and it is often caused by one of the several viruses: adenovirus, influenza, parainfluenza, and respiratory syncytial virus” (“Viral Pneumonia”). Viral pneumonia develops in children in about five to seven days, but bacterial pneumonia is more severe (McKenzie and et. al. 396). “Pneumonia affects approximately four million individuals each year. It is the most common cause of infectious death in the United States” (Neighbors and Jones 162). Viral pneumonia occ...
This problem could be addressed by teaching older adults to be aware of sudden changes in their body, signs and symptoms of pneumonia and when to seek medical care. Nurses should monitor vital signs for abnormal findings, assess for signs of acute change in mental status, decrease appetite, increasing weakness, and a sudden cough. Nurses should also encourage routine physical activity to improve blood circulation and reduce the risk of CAP occurrence. “Altered mental status, a sudden decline in functional capacity, and worsening of underlying diseases may be the only findings of CAP in elderly” (Simonetti et al., 2014, p. 5).
That was an attention-grabbing, yet disconcerting article. Pneumococcal diseases is an infection caused by Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria also known as "pneumococcus." It an infection of the lungs. It can cause pneumonia. This sickness can lead into additional medical issues such as: sinus or ear infection, meningitis, or blood infection. The symptoms of pneumococcal disease vary on the part of the body that it is affected. Warning sign can include fever, cough, shortness of breath, irritability, chest pain, stiff neck, confusion, sensitivity to light, joint soreness, chills, ear pain and insomnia. Additionally, in severe cases it can produce hearing loss, brain damage, and death. (http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/pneumonia/Pages/Default.aspx)