Martha got admitted two days ago due to pneumonia. Her pulmonologist said it was very very mild and was actually manageable if Martha was eating – but on Tuesday she wasnt eating anymore and I had to take her to the hospital. All is well now and she is eating, but needs to gain back a few more pounds. Hopefully by the end of the week she is back to her old chubby self.

Pneumonia is a general term that refers to an infection of the lungs, which can be caused by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.

Often pneumonia begins after an upper respiratory tract infection (an infection of the nose and throat). When this happens, symptoms of pneumonia begin after 2 or 3 days of a cold or sore throat.
Signs and Symptoms

Symptoms of pneumonia vary, depending on the age of the child and the cause of the pneumonia. Some common symptoms include:

* fever
* chills
* cough
* unusually rapid breathing
* breathing with grunting or wheezing sounds
* labored breathing that makes a child’s rib muscles retract (when muscles under the rib cage or between ribs draw inward with each breath)
* vomiting
* chest pain
* abdominal pain
* decreased activity
* loss of appetite (in older children) or poor feeding (in infants)
* in extreme cases, bluish or gray color of the lips and fingernails

Sometimes a child’s only symptom is rapid breathing. Sometimes when the pneumonia is in the lower part of the lungs near the abdomen, there may be no breathing problems at all, but there may be fever and abdominal pain or vomiting.

When pneumonia is caused by bacteria, an infected child usually becomes sick relatively quickly and experiences the sudden onset of high fever and unusually rapid breathing. When pneumonia is caused by viruses, symptoms tend to appear more gradually and are often less severe than in bacterial pneumonia. Wheezing may be more common in viral pneumonia.

Some types of pneumonia cause symptoms that give important clues about which germ is causing the illness. For example, in older children and adolescents, pneumonia due to Mycoplasma (also called walking pneumonia) is notorious for causing a sore throat and headache in addition to the usual symptoms of pneumonia.

In infants, pneumonia due to chlamydia may cause conjunctivitis (pinkeye) with only mild illness and no fever. When pneumonia is due to whooping cough (pertussis), the child may have long coughing spells, turn blue from lack of air, or make a classic “whoop” sound when trying to take a breath.

Home Treatment

If your child’s doctor has prescribed antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia, give the medicine on schedule for as long as the doctor directs. This will help your child recover faster and will decrease the chance that infection will spread to other household members.

Don’t force a child who’s not feeling well to eat, but encourage your child to drink fluids, especially if fever is present. Ask your child’s doctor before you use a medicine to treat your child’s cough because cough suppressants stop the lungs from clearing mucus, which may not be helpful in some types of pneumonia.

If your child has chest pain, try a heating pad or warm compress on the chest area. Take your child’s temperature at least once each morning and each evening, and call the doctor if it goes above 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) in an older infant or child, or above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in an infant under 6 months of age.

Check your child’s lips and fingernails to make sure that they are rosy and pink, not bluish or gray, which is a sign that your child’s lungs are not getting enough oxygen.

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