Symptoms

In addition to the typical pneumonia, there is also an atypical one, which proceeds a little differently than the former. A typical pneumonia usually sets in suddenly and with the characteristic symptoms of fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. It is accompanied by chills, weakness and a general feeling of illness.

Especially the cough can be very persistent and unpleasant. Atypical pneumonia, on the other hand, can start rather insidiously and does not necessarily have to be accompanied by fever and cough. A cough is also not necessarily required for virus-related pneumonia and those caused by parasites.

Dangerous in atypical pneumonia are the symptoms, which can often have existed for a long time and are not noticed. As a result, the pneumonia can become worse because the symptoms are not clear enough and pneumonia is not recognized. The person affected does not cure the infection properly and there is a risk that a chronic inflammation will manifest itself and the pathogens will spread further.In older people, pneumonia is often much more severe than in younger people.

Many older patients also suffer from diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes mellitus. As a result, the body is already weakened and is not able to build up enough resistance to ward off further inflammation in the body, in this case in the lung tissue. Treatment in hospital under constant supervision is often necessary because the elderly patients can also fall into states of confusion or twilight.

Fever

Fever can usually be one of the first signs of pneumonia. The patient initially feels tired and listless. The fever then often develops into exhaustion towards evening or overnight.

The fever begins with a sudden onset of chills. The patient feels very cold and the body tries to defend itself against the pathogens. Temperatures of up to 39 or 40 degrees are not uncommon.

A pneumonia with high fever is often caused by bacteria. A pneumonia caused by viruses often proceeds without chills and the temperature reaches maximum values of 38.5 degrees. A pneumonia that runs without fever is also called cold pneumonia. Especially then there is a danger of confusing pneumonia with a common cold.