Doctors are advised to do fluorography annually, even if it is not required in educational institutions and at work. This measure allows us to detect inflammation of the lungs in time - the symptoms of this dangerous pathology are not always clearly expressed and diagnosis often occurs in its late stages of development. In addition, there are forms of pneumonia that do not appear at all.
The first symptoms of pneumonia
Early clinical manifestations of the disease depend on its form and pathogen - pneumonia can be triggered by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, non-infectious factors.
There are many different types of pneumonia, it is classified according to the prevalence of the pathological process in the foci, the localization of lesions (one-sided or bilateral), as well as the primary occurrence. But the flow features are present only in several types of pneumonia:
- typical;
- hidden;
- croupous.
The first signs, again, depend on the variety of microorganisms that caused the inflammatory process. General clinical manifestations of the early stage of pneumonia are the following:
- increased body temperature;
- hyperemia of the skin in the chest area, on the cheeks (unhealthy blush, especially with physical exertion);
- pain in the chest with intense inspiration and exhalation;
- dyspnea.
At this stage, cough does not appear, which makes it difficult to correctly diagnose without additional research.
What are the symptoms of a typical pneumonia?
Describe the form of the disease is easiest, because it is characterized by specific signs:
- pleural pain;
- wet cough with copious discharge of unpleasant smelling, purulent sputum;
- a sharp rise in body temperature to high marks;
- audible rattling in breaths and exhalations.
The listed symptoms have viral pneumonia and pneumonia of bacterial nature.
With reduced immunity, there are several more clinical manifestations of the disease:
- myalgia ;
- intoxication of the body (nausea, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea);
- fever;
- coryza;
- chills;
- rarely - unproductive cough;
- dyspnea.
Symptoms of latent pneumonia
This type of pneumonia, in contrast, is very difficult to determine due to asymptomatic leakage. There are only weakly expressed common signs of the inflammatory process:
- tachycardia;
- shortness of breath with intense physical exertion;
- pallor of the face;
- increased fatigue;
- low working capacity;
- blush in the form of bright spots on the cheeks;
- sometimes - whistling on exhalation.
It is worth noting that the above phenomena are rarely observed in full and simultaneously. Usually there are several (2-4) symptoms that are almost impossible to immediately associate with pneumonia.
Symptoms of croupous pneumonia
This kind of inflammation is the most severe, always progresses quickly, has an acute onset.
Croupous pneumonia passes through the 3 stages of development.
At the 1st stage, the body temperature is raised to 40 degrees, shortness of breath, noticeable reddening of the skin.
The following period is characterized by the filling of the alveoli of the lungs with exudate, the following signs are observed:
- cough;
- intoxication;
- isolation of thick rust streak without purulent impurities;
- increased sweating;
- purchase of a cyanotic shade by the skin (due to hypoxia);
- swelling of the nasolabial triangle;
- pain in the chest during a cough, usually from the side of the affected lung.
By the 8th-10th day of the disease, the resolution begins:
- expectorated mucus with pus;
- the dyspnea disappears;
- respiratory activity is partially improved.