Pneumonia is a lung infection that can kill its victims. That includes people with respiratory conditions, not to mention the elderly. But anyone who knows anything about COVID 19 understands that it is a respiratory illness that produces symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, and a sore throat.

This has encouraged some people to question whether Pneumonia and COVID 19 are related. Unfortunately, COVID 19 pneumonia is a real illness and it is just as dangerous as severe pneumonia. You cannot effectively protect yourself from pneumonia without understanding how the disease works or its relationship with the coronavirus.

 

Understanding Pneumonia

Many online pharmacy reviews describe pneumonia as an infection that inflames the small air sacs in the lungs, filling them with fluid and compromising the patient’s ability to breathe. Some of the most common symptoms of pneumonia, besides shortness of breath, include fever, vomiting, coughing, and a loss of appetite.

 

Can You Treat Pneumonia

You cannot treat pneumonia without first diagnosing it. This requires a scan of the lungs. The scans will reveal the inflammation as well as the fluid and pus that have accumulated. Some doctors use CT scans. Others rely on X-rays or any other scan they have on hand.

The disease tends to attack the elderly and patients with respiratory illnesses. If you don’t have this disease, you should avoid people that have it. Stay six feet away. Whenever you encounter a person with pneumonia, make sure you wash your hands.

If the condition manifests, the treatment will depend on the severity. Some doctors may recommend the use of a ventilator in the most serious cases. But you also have patients that respond positively to pain relievers and cough drugs.

 

Relationship between Coronavirus and Pneumonia

As was already noted above, COVID 19 is a respiratory illness. Pneumonia is just one of the complications that can arise when a person contracts the coronavirus. The ailment harms the alveoli once it enters the respiratory tract.

This affects the alveoli’s ability to transfer oxygen. This eventually reduces the amount of oxygen flowing to the organs. The organs will suffer permanent damage if they are deprived of sufficient oxygen for long periods. This can lead to kidney and heart failure.

Pneumonia doesn’t appear in every single COVID 19 case. For many patients, the symptoms of the virus are mild or moderate. However, when pneumonia manifests, it can result in death.

 

Symptoms of Coronavirus Pneumonia

The symptoms of coronavirus-related pneumonia are similar to the symptoms of ordinary pneumonia. That includes labored breathing, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, and shortness of breath, to mention but a few. This is on top of the other signs of COVID 19, which include headaches, skin rashes, sore throat, runny nose, and body aches.

A doctor can diagnose this illness using blood tests and CT scans. The scans will reveal the damage in the lungs caused by the disease. The doctor can also test the blood oxygen levels of the patient.

 

Who Is At Risk?

COVID 19 pneumonia is more likely to afflict the elderly as well as people with illnesses such as lung disease, heart disease, liver disease, and asthma, to mention but a few. If you have a weakened immune system, you also have a higher chance of getting severe COVID 19 pneumonia.

 

Other vulnerable groups include people with Cancer, smokers, individuals with untreated HIV or AIDS, etc. That being said, the people outside these circles are not necessarily immune to coronavirus-related pneumonia. Anyone can contract the ailment. But younger, healthier individuals are in a better position to survive the illness.

 

How Do You Treat It?

The best way to fight COVID 19 pneumonia is to avoid it altogether. Some people can recover after undergoing the mildest treatment regimens. However, others die despite the best efforts of their doctors.

No physician can guarantee success where this illness is concerned, which is why you have to take the following steps to prevent COVID 19 pneumonia:

❶ Hygiene

Start by washing your hands. Do this as frequently as possible. Use water and soap. Scrub for twenty or so seconds before you rinse. If you are always on the move, keep some hand sanitizer on hand. But you can only trust sanitizer with 60 percent alcohol or higher.

❷ Contact

Keep your hands away from your face. Fight the temptation to scratch your eyes and nose, or to touch your mouth, especially if you haven’t washed or sanitized your hands in quite a while.

❸ Quarantine

Stay away from people with COVID 19 pneumonia. Because some people don’t know that they have the disease, you should also steer clear of people that show all the signs of pneumonia. If you think you have the disease, you should stay away from others as well. Place yourself in quarantine until you know for certain that you are safe.

❹ Masks

Wear a mask or a face shield or both. They will protect you if you ever come across a person with the illness. If you already have COVID 19 pneumonia, your doctor will do what they can to control the symptoms and complications. Some doctors use antibiotics to manage the ailment. However, you cannot combat COVID 19 with antibiotics. You can only use antibiotics to treat pneumonia.

If your case is severe, your doctor will recommend ventilators and intravenous fluids. If you have access to a pneumonia vaccine, it will provide some protection against some forms of pneumonia, but not all of them. Don’t expect the pneumonia vaccine to protect you from COVID 19. The reverse is also true. COVID vaccines cannot protect against pneumonia.

 

Conclusion

COVID 19 is a respiratory illness. As such, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that pneumonia is one of the complications caused by the coronavirus. Pneumonia doesn’t manifest in every single person that contracts COVID 19. But when it manifests, it can be quite severe. It is more than capable of killing its victims.

You are better off preventing the illness than looking for ways to fight it. You can avoid the disease by washing your hands, keeping your hands away from your face, mouth, and eyes, staying away from sick people, and using a mask to cover your face. Where necessary, you can use online pharmacy reviews to find a trustworthy store that can provide the drugs you need to fight the ailment. But you should consult a medical expert before you buy medicine over the internet.