This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages without signing in

Pneumonia

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Pneumonia is a term which describes inflammation of the lung parenchyma characterised by exudation and consolidation into the alveoli.

There are various ways of categorising the pneumonias:

  • by who gets them and when
  • by the causative organism
  • by the geography of acquisition

Overall (in the UK), Streptococcus pneumoniae is by far the most common agent.

Every year between 0.5% and 1% of adults in the UK will have community-acquired pneumonia

  • diagnosed in 5-12% of adults who present to GPs with symptoms of lower respiratory tract infection, and 22-42% of these are admitted to hospital, where the mortality rate is between 5% and 14%
  • between 1.2% and 10% of adults admitted to hospital with community-acquired pneumonia are managed in an intensive care unit, and for these patients the risk of dying is more than 30%
  • more than half of pneumonia-related deaths occur in people older than 84 years

Reference:


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.