Pneumonia And Tuberculosis Essay -- Health Illnesses Essays

Pneumonia and Tuberculosis Pneumonia and tuberculosis have been plaguing the citizens of the world for centuries causing millions of deaths. This occurred until the creation and use of antibiotics become more widely available. These two respiratory infections have many differences, which include their etiology, incidence and prevalence, and many similarities in their objective and subject indicators, medical interventions, course, rehabilitation and effects. To explore the relationship between pneumonia and tuberculosis we will examine a case study. Joan is a 35 year old women who was feeling fine up till a few weeks ago when she develop a sore throat. Since her sore throat she had been experiencing chest pain, a loss of appetite, coughing and a low fever so she went to visit her doctor. Her doctor admitted her to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia and after three days of unsuccessful treatment it was discovered that she actually had active tuberculosis. This misdiagnosis shows the similarities between the two diseases and how easily they can be confused. Pneumonia Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs with exudation and consolidation. Pneumonia can be one of two types: lobar pneumonia or bronchial pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia affects one lobe of a lung while bronchial pneumonia affects the areas closest to the bronchi (O'Toole, 1992). In the United States over three million people are infected with pneumonia each year; five percent of which die. Etiology There are over 30 causes for pneumonia however there are 4 main causes which are bacterial, viral, mycoplasma and fungal (American Lung Association, 1996). Bacterial pneumonia attacks everyone from young to old, however "alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory disease or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at greater risk" (American Lung Association, 1996). The Pneumococcusis bacteria, which is classified as Streptococcus pneumoniae, causes bacterial pneumonia and can be prevented by a vaccine. In 20 - 30% of the cases the infection spreads to the blood stream (MedicineNet, 1997) which can lead to secondary infections. Viral pneumonia accounts for half of all pneumonia cases (American Lung Association, 1996) unfortunately there is no effective tre... ...sis can be kept under control with the use of antibiotics and the earlier that the infection is caught the better chance of a prompt recovery. References American Lung Association. (1996). Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/lunpneumonia.html American Lung Association. (1996) Tuberculosis [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/luntb.html Cook, Allan R., & Dresser, Peter D. (Ed.). (1995). Respiratory diseases and disorders sourcebook (6). Detroit: Omnigraphics Inc. Galantino, Mary Lou., & Bishop, Kathy Lee. (1994, February). The new TB. PT Magazine. P. 53-61 MedicineNet. (1997). Diseases & treatments: pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.medicinenet.com/mainmenu/encyclop/ARTICLE/Art_P/pneumon.htm National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. (1989). Med Facts Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.hjc.org/MFhtml/PNE_MF.html O'Toole, M. (Ed.). (1992). Miller-Keane encyclopedia and dictionary of medicine, nursing, and allied health. Toronto: W.B. Saunders. Schlossberg, David. (Ed.). (1994). Tuberculosis (3rd ed.). New York: Springer - Verlag.