You searched for: “pneumonia”
pneumonia (s) (noun), pneumonias (pl)
An infection of one or both lungs which is usually caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites: "Before the discovery of antibiotics, one-third of all people who developed pneumonia died from the infection."

"Now, it is estimated that over three-million people develop pneumonia each year in the United States and over 500 thousand of these people are admitted to a hospital for treatment."

"While most of these patients usually recover, approximately 5% will die from pneumonia."

"Pneumonia is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States."

"As we get older, our swallowing mechanism can become impaired as does our immune system; so, these factors, along with some of the negative side effects of medications, increase the risk for pneumonia in the elderly."

—Compiled from excerpts located in
MedicineNetonhealth.com;
By George Schiffman, MD, FCCP (Fellow of the College of Chest Physicians);
Reviewed by Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD.
This entry is located in the following unit: pneumo-, pneum-, pneumono-, pneumon- (page 5)
Word Entries containing the term: “pneumonia”
influenza pneumonia
An inflammation of the lungs associated with influenza infection.
This entry is located in the following unit: fluct-, flucti-, -flux, flu-, flum-, -fluent, -fluence (page 7)
nosocomial pneumonia (s) (noun), nosocomial pneumonias (pl)
An infection of the lungs that occurs during a stay in a health institution: Nosocomial pneumonia or hospital-acquired pneumonia tends to be more serious than other lung infections, because:
  • Patients going to the medical centers are often sicker and so they are not able to fight off disease-producing microorganisms.
  • The types of germs present in hospitals are often more dangerous than those encountered in the general community.

Infirmary-acquired pneumonia occurs more often in invalids who are using a respirator or ventilator machine to help them breathe. When pneumonia occurs in a person who is ill and on a ventilator, it is known as "ventilator-associated pneumonia".

Nosocomial pneumonia may be introduced into the lungs of sufferers with contaminated respiratory therapy equipment or simply by breathing the air filled with droplets of infections from other patients or coughing medical personnel; especially, when those who are sick are close together in intensive care units.

The increased use of drugs that reduce the body's rejection of implants, but at the same time, suppress the body's immune system, leaves the invalid vulnerable to infections that can kill; for example, nosocomial pneumonia.

This entry is located in the following unit: nosocome-, nosocom-, nosokome-, noskom- (page 1)