Pneumonia
Pneumonia
Click on the name of the infection in the image above to find out more about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of these respiratory tract infections.
What is pneumonia?
Pneumonia is an inflammation of your lung tissue that is caused by an infection. The infection may be in one or both of your lungs and it can be caused by bacteria or a virus.
Anyone at any age can get pneumonia, but it can be particularly serious and even life threatening in babies, young children, older people and people with other illnesses who may have weakened lungs or immune systems as a result (e.g. people with asthma, cystic fibrosis, HIV or type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes).
These people may benefit from vaccination to protect them from pneumonia, or they may need closer monitoring or different treatments if they do get pneumonia. Adults and children are treated differently.
Find out more about preventing pneumonia and about the treatments for adults and children with pneumonia.
References
- Antibiotic Expert Group. Community-acquired pneumonia in children. In: eTG complete [online]. Therapeutic guidelines: antibiotic. Version 14. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited; 2012. (Accessed 27 March 2012).
- Rossi S, ed. eAMH [online]. Adelaide: Australian Medicines Handbook, January 2012. (Accessed 28 March 2012).