Pneumonia death. Main signs of the disease

Pneumonia, i.e. pneumonia is called inflammatory-infectious lesion of the lungs. This is a dangerous disease respiratory system, threatening the patient with severe complications and death. Throughout the world, pneumonia is considered one of the most common causes of death. To the question: is it possible to die from pneumonia, we can confidently answer in the affirmative.

The main cause of pneumonia is infection by bacteria, viruses or fungi. These pathogens enter either directly into the lungs—in which case we speak of primary pneumonia—or from another source of infection—in which case we speak of secondary pneumonia.

The course of the disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• heat;
• cardiopalmus;
• chest pain;
• severe fatigue;
• dyspnea;
• cough.

In some cases, the disease may be asymptomatic. There is no cough or high fever. This pathological condition very dangerous, because the patient does not suspect that he has serious illness and continues to live as before. Immunocompromised patients die from this.

The following categories of patients are at risk for the disease:

• children;
• aged people;
• patients with cardiovascular diseases;
• often suffer from bronchitis;
• having bad habits;
• experienced smokers;
• diabetics;
• having autoimmune diseases.

Complications of pneumonia leading to death

It is worth noting that death does not occur from pneumonia itself, but from complications of this disease, when the patient did not visit a doctor for a long time, ignored the symptoms, or self-medicated. The most severe complications of pneumonia are the following diseases:

1. Lung abscess.
2. Adult distress syndrome.
3. Infectious toxic shock.

Lung abscess

This is an infectious disease of the lungs that developed as a result of pneumonia that was not completely cured. Pathogenic microbes - fungi, bacteria and viruses - contribute to the development of an abscess ( Staphylococcus aureus, streptococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc.). As a result of their vital activity, a cavity is formed in one of the lungs in which pus accumulates. Subsequently, in the absence of therapy, the infected area of ​​​​the lung tissue melts, and the tissue of this vital organ begins to die.

There are two forms pulmonary abscess– acute and chronic.

At acute form There is an increase in the following symptoms:

• heat;
• weakness;
• severe intoxication;
• cough;
• intense pain in the sternum;
• loss of appetite.

The disease develops in this way: after the microbe enters the lung, an abscess begins to form, after 10 days it opens. The contents of the abscess flow into the airways. The patient experiences the greatest discomfort during this period: he begins to coughing with a lot of sputum discharge Green colour. Sometimes up to one liter of purulent contents can be released per day. After this, the patient’s condition begins to gradually improve, although treatment will be required for 2-3 weeks before complete recovery.

The most dangerous is swift current illness – 2-3 days. If time is missed and treatment is not started, the patient may die. With a favorable course of the pathology - 10-15 days - the purulent process in the lung can be stopped.

In the chronic form of an abscess, symptoms may persist for a long time. Acute lung abscess develops into chronic stage with long-term acute abscess. Symptoms chronic form abscess:

• severe shortness of breath;
• weakness;
• copious sputum with a foul odor;
• increased sweating;
• exhaustion.

The chronic course of the disease rarely leads to the death of the patient, but can be very dangerous consequences – pulmonary hemorrhage, respiratory failure, sepsis

Adult respiratory distress syndrome

Another dangerous condition in which you can die from pneumonia is adult respiratory distress syndrome. This is very dangerous condition characterized by pulmonary edema, respiratory failure and oxygen starvation.

The syndrome develops due to small blood clots, particles of dead tissue, and toxins entering small pulmonary vessels.

The permeability of the membrane increases, resulting in pulmonary edema, a decrease in its extensibility and the impossibility of gas exchange. The syndrome develops in several stages, each of which has certain symptoms:

1. Damage. Characterized by the entry of blood clots, tissue breakdown products, etc. into the vessels. The stage lasts only 6 hours. The patient does not experience any discomfort.
2. The so-called imaginary well-being. After blockage of a pulmonary vessel, shortness of breath, bluish skin, rapid heartbeat and breathing appear. The patient begins to worry due to an increasing cough, lack of oxygen, wheezing, and sputum streaked with blood. These manifestations are observed 6-12 hours after blockage of the pulmonary vessel.
3. Respiratory failure. Pink frothy sputum begins to be released, breathing becomes shallow, and blood pressure drops sharply.
4. The terminal stage, which is characterized by a large number of symptoms associated with oxygen starvation: low blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, bleeding from the lungs and stomach, coma.

If the syndrome is not stopped in the first two stages, mortality at the stage respiratory failure makes up about 80% of cases, and at the terminal stage – 100%.

Infectious-toxic shock

Infectious-toxic shock as a complication of pneumonia occurs when pathogenic bacterial microflora collapses. Streptococci, staphylococci and other bacteria produce toxins during their life, some of which are removed from the body without harm to health. However, the patient affected by pneumonia has a severely weakened immune system, so he cannot cope with such a serious load. As a result, toxins and their breakdown products enter the bloodstream and are distributed throughout the body. Toxic shock occurs.

The state of shock develops in several stages:

1. Hyperdynamic stage, when arterial blood cannot give all the oxygen to the capillaries. The heartbeat quickens and the body temperature rises sharply. Shortness of breath occurs. The patient becomes restless. Skin turn pale, lips and nails acquire a bluish tint. Vomiting and diarrhea appear.
2. A transitional stage in which the mucous membranes become blue and the skin turns pale. Pulse and blood pressure decrease, which leads to lethargy and lethargy of the patient.
3. Stage of decompensation. At this stage, there is a sharp deterioration in the patient’s condition: increased heart rate blood pressure is greatly reduced, breathing is impaired. Due to lack of oxygen, bleeding occurs. The person falls into a coma.
4. The atonal stage, in which the brain is affected and cells die. The patient dies.

With infectious-toxic shock, mortality ranges from 60 to 90%.

With sepsis, waste products of bacteria and viruses enter the bloodstream, which are carried with the blood to other organs. In this case, not only the lung tissue suffers, but also other systems. A large number of foci of inflammation appear in the lungs, which can later develop into abscesses.

Symptoms of sepsis in pneumonia:

• intoxication;
• chest pain;
• chills;
• a sharp increase in temperature that is difficult to reduce;
• cyanosis of the skin;
• lack of appetite and quick loss weight;
• copious discharge of green sputum;
• suffocation;
• open mouth breathing;
• the appearance of inflammation in other organs: ear, brain.

As a result of sepsis, many organs are affected. The probability of death is quite high.

If left untreated, pneumonia can cause death. Therefore, it is so important to follow preventive measures to avoid this disease. This is especially true for patients with weakened immune systems, with frequent exacerbations of chronic ENT diseases, young children and elderly patients.

Pneumonia (pneumonia) is an acute infectious disease characterized by damage to the lower respiratory tract and respiratory sections of the lungs, accompanied by the accumulation of inflammatory exudate in the alveoli.

Epidemiology and mortality from pneumonia

Pneumonia is one of the most common infectious diseases. Approximately 4-5 million people in Russia fall ill with this pathology every year.

The incidence of the adult population aged 16 to 50 years is 5-10%, over 50 years old - approximately 20-40%.

The mortality rate from pneumonia in Russia is approximately 1.2 per 10,000 population.

The fatal outcome among young people without aggravating diseases is about 1-3%. As for older people with a number of concomitant diseases, then the mortality rate increases to 40-50%.

What increases the risk of death

1. Pathology of cardio-vascular system (ischemic disease heart disease, cardiomyopathy, vascular atherosclerosis, hypertension in the pulmonary circulation, congenital and acquired heart defects, myocardial infarction).
2. Respiratory tract diseases (chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, emphysema, primary pulmonary hypertension, bronchiectasis, pulmonary tuberculosis).
3. Bad habits (long-term smoking, alcoholism, drug addiction).
4. Diabetes mellitus and its complications (diabetic angiopathy, diabetic nephropathy).
5. Diseases genitourinary system(chronic glomerulonephritis, acute and chronic renal failure).

Death from pneumonia can be accelerated by unfavorable living conditions, old age(over 60 years), the period of infancy and newborns.

1. Community-acquired (outpatient, home, non-nosocomial) – develops outside medical institution or after 48-72 hours of being in it. The most common pathogens are pneumococcus and Haemophilus influenzae. Proceeds relatively favorably, the likelihood of death with this type minimal.
2. Nosocomial (hospital, nosocomial) - occurs during a hospital stay (2-3 days after admission). The course of such pneumonia is quite severe, the mortality rate is very high due to the developed resistance of microorganisms. The main pathogen is Staphylococcus aureus, followed by Enterobacter and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Aspiration

Aspiration - the main cause of occurrence is the ingestion of gastric contents and foreign bodies V Airways. Caused predominantly by gram-negative aerobic microflora ( coli, Proteus, Klebsiella). The severity of the condition is also determined chemical burn mucous membrane of the airways caused by the ingress of gastric juice. Mortality is quite common, especially with chronic aspiration.

1. Pneumonia in persons with compromised immune system– primary (thymic aplasia) and secondary (HIV infection) immunodeficiencies, malignant neoplasms(leukemia, aplastic anemia), iatrogenic immunosuppression (for example, after organ transplantation). It responds poorly to treatment due to the lack of its own immune forces. This category of patients more often than others dies from pneumonia.

Clinical picture

Massive intoxication syndrome comes to the fore after the onset of the disease. The patient feels weakness, malaise, aches throughout the body, pain in the bones and muscles. Then comes fever (up to febrile and hectic levels), sleep disturbance, loss of appetite, nausea and even vomiting.

Specific pulmonary symptoms are cough with sputum production, shortness of breath with the development of respiratory failure, chest pain when breathing.

With untimely diagnosis and incorrectly chosen treatment tactics, serious complications, even death.

The main complications of pneumonia are:

• pleurisy (exudative and adhesive);
• pleural empyema;
• sepsis with the development of multiple organ failure;
• infectious-toxic shock;
• acute respiratory failure;
• respiratory distress syndrome;
• abscess formation of lung tissue;
• myocarditis.

Sepsis is a condition of the body caused by the entry of pathogenic microbes into the blood and the formation of foci of elimination in all organs and tissues. This can lead to the development of multiple organ failure and septic shock.

Maintenance of vital functions with vasopressors and massive antibacterial therapy can prolong the patient's life for some time. A certain effect is detected from efferent treatment (plasmapheresis, apheresis, efferent administration of antibiotics).

Infectious-toxic shock is caused by a massive release of waste products and toxins into the blood, which may result in the development of acute heart failure and a fall. blood pressure, cessation of renal filtration.

Deterioration of kidney function leads to the development of acute renal failure, oliguria and anuria.

Arterial hypotension progresses and peripheral vasospasm occurs. Normal blood supply is only vital important organs: heart and brain. In children, this can lead to the development of a life-threatening complication: Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome.

Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome is an insufficiency of the adrenal cortex that appears in children as a result of infectious-toxic shock. This pathology implies an almost complete cessation of the secretion of glucocorticoids and adrenaline.

This is accompanied by a decrease in blood pressure to zero, respiratory arrest and clinical death. Even if the condition is diagnosed in time, the child may die. Mortality reaches almost 100%.

Serious purulent complication is abscess formation of lung tissue (formation of bullae and abscesses). The etiopathological agent for this condition is Staphylococcus aureus. This microorganism causes necrosis and destruction of the lung with the formation of cavities filled with pus.

Clinically, this condition can manifest itself as a sharp deterioration of the condition, high fever, cachexia, drop in blood pressure, then cough with foul-smelling sputum.

When radiography of organs chest in the respiratory organs, a limited darkening with a dense capsule is detected, and when the abscess is emptied, with a horizontal level of liquid.

Treatment of this condition is only surgical (lobectomy, up to pneumonectomy). After pneumonectomy, the patient’s quality of life decreases sharply; any physical activity may be accompanied by shortness of breath. The patient's death occurs within several years.

The development of pyopneumothorax is characterized by the rupture of a bulla or abscess and the entry of necrotic masses and a large amount of pus into the pleural cavity. This condition, as mentioned earlier, leads to sharp deterioration condition, the appearance of shortness of breath and a drop in blood pressure. If urgent drainage is not performed pleural cavity, the patient may die.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome in adults is determined by a massive release of cytokines into the blood and activation of the kallikrein-kinin system. As a result, interstitial edema of the lung tissue, impaired microcirculation and the development of intravascular disseminated blood coagulation syndrome may occur.

Such patients require immediate artificial ventilation lungs, this is the only way to save them.
Despite serious complications after pneumonia, timely consultation with a doctor and compliance with all his recommendations contributes to a complete recovery.

Despite the emergence of new drugs and the use modern methods Pneumonia treatment remains fatal dangerous disease. But if earlier the mortality rate was one hundred percent, now this has been avoided. You can still die from pneumonia today if the disease is advanced or there are factors predisposing it. This is why timely consultation with a doctor is so necessary.

Epidemiology and mortality statistics from pneumonia

Infectious pneumonia is a common disease that infects people absolutely of different ages and from different social strata. According to statistics, in Russia every year the disease affects about five million people. It is quite natural that a person is interested in the question: if he has pneumonia, can he die?

It should be noted that pneumonia is more common in older people due to their weakened immunity. General state the body after 50 years deteriorates sharply, which creates favorable conditions for the development of pneumonia. Among adults under fifty years of age, the incidence is 5-10%. If we consider the category of patients over fifty years of age, then this is already from 20 to 40%.

Mortality statistics from pneumonia are higher than from many other infectious diseases. Thus, among a relatively young population, the mortality rate is from 1 to 3. The older the patient, the greater the likelihood of his death. In elderly patients, the mortality rate reaches 50%.

Mortality from is also common. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, about a million children under the age of five die every year around the world from pneumonia and its consequences. Pneumonia is especially dangerous in newborns, since their immunity is still very weak, and all internal organs have a tiny volume and are located close to each other.

Important! Pay attention to the main symptoms of pneumonia so you can see a doctor in time!

What increases the risk of death?

U relatively healthy person With a strong immune system, pneumonia is curable. Healthy and strong body is completely restored, there are no consequences after pneumonia. But there are factors that aggravate the course of the disease and thereby increase the risk of death.

1. Diseases of the cardiovascular system. If the patient has heart problems, then pneumonia is much worse tolerated. The most dangerous are the presence of diseases such as ischemia, heart disease, a history of myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and vascular atherosclerosis.
2. Diseases bronchopulmonary system. Pneumonia often occurs due to chronic bronchitis or tuberculosis. The course of the disease is aggravated by cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, emphysema and other respiratory diseases.
3. Diseases of the genitourinary system. In the presence of chronic glomerulonephritis In cases of renal failure, pneumonia is much more severe.
4. Diabetes. Moreover, it is not so much the disease itself that is dangerous, but its complications. In the presence of nephropathy and angiopathy caused by diabetes mellitus, the risk of death increases.
5. Bad habits. Smoking has a particularly adverse effect on the body, since nicotine directly affects the condition of the lungs. Alcoholism and drug addiction wear out the body, which makes it difficult to fight infection.

There are other reasons why people die from pneumonia. Factors favorable to the development of infections include poor living conditions, for example, if the room is too damp and dark, wet cleaning is rarely carried out in it. Old age can also be considered a predisposition to death - these are patients over 60 years of age. To the group increased risk This also includes newborns and children under five years of age.

What could be the causes of death?

People die from pneumonia due to complications that develop as a result of this disease. There are a number of the most dangerous of them.

Sepsis is diagnosed when pathogenic microorganisms enter the blood. The mortality rate from blood poisoning is very high, since oxygen access to all organs and tissues is difficult. This condition is called septic shock. In case of sepsis, it is possible to prolong the patient's life by using antibacterial therapy.

Infectious-toxic shock

With pneumonia, toxins and waste products of bacteria can enter the bloodstream, which cause disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system, as well as in the functioning of the kidneys. Blood pressure decreases, which leads to disruption of circulatory function, when blood normally flows only to the area of ​​​​the heart and brain. One of the scenarios is a complete lack of blood pressure, which leads to respiratory arrest. In this case, death cannot be avoided.

An abscess is a cavity in which pus is present. Lung abscess is most often caused by Staphylococcus aureus. During development abscess lung dies off and appears in its place purulent formation. Symptoms – severe painful cough with a large amount of sputum, which has an unpleasant purulent odor. Due to pus, the patient's body is exposed to severe intoxication, which is manifested by fever and a drop in blood pressure. If the cavity breaks through, then without emergency surgery the person dies quickly. Treatment method for abscess - surgical removal affected lung. After surgery, a person can usually live for several more years.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome

This is another reason why death occurs from pneumonia. The level of oxygen in the blood sharply decreases, which leads to pulmonary edema. With this complication, blood microcirculation is disrupted and its coagulability worsens. Only emergency artificial ventilation can save a person from death.

At the site of lung tissue affected by infection. Connective tissue is formed. It is quite natural that the lungs can no longer function normally. The larger the affected area, the large quantity connective tissue appears in the lungs. The complication develops extremely quickly, the main symptoms are pain when breathing, difficulty breathing. One of the treatment options is a lung transplant. High probability of death.

Staging correct diagnosis within a short period of time - pledge successful treatment. Complications usually arise if the patient contacts doctors too late. That’s why it’s so important to see a doctor right away, even if you have subtle symptoms of the disease. The main way to diagnose pneumonia is fluoroscopy. Subsequently, the diagnosis is clarified by identifying the pathogen. However, treatment should be started immediately to avoid death.

How to avoid complications with pneumonia?

- a dangerous and insidious disease that can occur without bright severe symptoms. The likelihood of death is high with heart failure and a number of other serious illnesses. But we should not forget about healthy life, bad habits have a detrimental effect on the condition of the body as a whole, so it is difficult for it to fight infections. As a preventive measure after it, a number of measures can be identified.

1. See a doctor if you have even mild symptoms pneumonia and subsequent implementation of all his recommendations for therapy and examinations.
2. Carrying out prevention chronic diseases, if any. This is especially important for older people.
3. Elimination of bad habits.
4. Hardening, physical education and sports, active image life, walking in the fresh air.
5. Correct good nutrition. The body must receive everything necessary substances, including vitamins and minerals.

If a person does not have chronic diseases, if he is not a drug addict or alcoholic, then he can die from pneumonia in the most advanced cases. Often, not paying attention to their ailments, people live with pneumonia and consult a doctor already in critical condition when therapy is no longer able to help. At early diagnosis the disease is successfully cured.

Anyone who knows about pneumonia most likely does not think that it can cause death. The symptoms of this disease are very similar to the common cold or even atypical, so most people do not even suspect that they are in serious danger. That is why the number of cases is increasing with the development of pathological process to extremely difficult stages. Is it possible to die from pneumonia? Medical statistics publishes disappointing data every year, which indicates the danger of the disease. Know probable reasons deaths due to pneumonia are very important, since new treatment methods are being developed based on the data obtained.

What increases the risk of death from pneumonia

Pneumonia is indeed similar to a cold, as there is a history of cough, increased fatigue, hyperthermia and malaise. Many people do not even think about such an outcome of the disease as death. If a person, having shown concern at the first symptoms, seeks medical assistance, the chances of a full recovery increase.

Most often, a threat to life occurs when the patient begins to self-medicate and, after drinking one course and noticing that his condition is not improving, tries other medications. In such a situation, the percentage of deaths from pneumonia increases significantly. At risk are people suffering from:

• diabetes mellitus;
• pathologies of the kidneys;
• respiratory diseases (especially in chronic form);
• heart diseases;
• bad habits.

It is those people who are at risk who have a much higher chance of death. The course of treatment should be selected taking into account all concomitant diseases only by the attending physician. In addition to harming oneself, a person can infect others.

Death from pneumonia is in 5th place among pathologies causing death.

Important! It is absolutely impossible to treat this disease on your own! Only after passing the tests is it possible to select the necessary drug therapy. Otherwise, death may occur even before going to the hospital.

Atypical pneumonia

Often, death from pneumonia occurs due to its atypical manifestations. In this case, the symptomatic picture will be so blurred that without hardware medical research It is simply impossible to make a correct diagnosis and death may occur even before the exact picture of the disease is established.

There are two groups of people who most often experience an atypical course leading to death - children and the elderly. In both cases, there are factors that determine the individual causes of death due to pneumonia and which in no case should be neglected.

Children

Elderly

The child's body is in the stage of formation and growth. Most systems that have vital important, have not yet been formed, and antibodies that react to the causative agent of pneumonia have not yet been developed. Therefore, in children the disease often goes unnoticed. Just on last stage, when the lung tissue is no longer able to cope with the respiratory function, parents notice that not everything is all right with the child.

Weakened immunity contributes to frequent respiratory diseases. In addition, often elderly people practically do not get out of bed due to constant weakness And fatigue. A stroke or heart attack can leave a person bedridden for a long time. This causes a decrease in the elasticity of the lung tissue, since the person does not perform any physical activity and doesn't breathe as deeply as before. It becomes much easier for microorganisms to enter the body and cause disease. The mortality rate from pneumonia in older people reaches 75%, according to the latest statistics.

In people suffering respiratory diseases and those refusing to receive medicines, pneumonia can develop so rapidly that when the patient is admitted to the hospital, doctors do not even have time to stabilize the body’s condition, as death occurs.

How does the disease progress to death?

When a bacterium enters the lungs, it begins to grow and multiply, leaving behind a large amount of waste products and decay. Also, due to the immune response to foreign cells, fluid is released, which must be evacuated from the lungs through the cough reflex. But if a person does not take medications, all these products remain inside, creating an ideal breeding ground for the proliferation of microorganisms.

This disrupts lung ventilation and gas exchange, which affects gas composition blood, which triggers even more destructive processes in the body, leading a person to death. When the immune system fails, toxins and bacterial waste products enter the bloodstream, causing toxic shock. This complication can stop the functioning of the kidneys, as well as affect the functioning of the heart and vascular patency, which will accelerate death. Pneumonia in children complicated by septic shock is rare, but not a single case is known when doctors were able to save a child.

Features of treatment

To avoid complications of pneumonia, it is necessary to identify the causative agent of the disease, since each pathogen produces specific symptoms and its own treatment is necessary to combat it. For example, infection by Staphylococcus aureus leads to the breakdown of lung tissue. Such patients require artificial ventilation and constant oxygen insufflation. Without such measures, death from pneumonia will occur with a 100% probability. The more severely the lung tissue is affected, the more likely it is that the patient will develop fulminant pneumonia with a fatal outcome.

Complications of the disease

Pneumonia is often a consequence of influenza or bronchitis. Thus, if you run primary disease, complications are inevitable and will be extremely disastrous for the patient. If the causative agent is Staphylococcus aureus, there is a possibility of melting of the lung tissue. This leads to a diagnosis such as purulent pneumonia; in adults, death occurs gradually, but in children, death occurs within a few days. The most frequent complications for this pathology:

• lung abscess;
• fibrosis;
• effusion into the pleural cavity;
• bronchospasm;
• bronchiectasis;
• heart failure;
• addition of a secondary infection.

In this case, the abscess in the lung may not be the only one - the presence of multiple abscesses is often found. The danger of this condition is that the rupture of the walls results in the outflow of pus and molten tissue, which fill part of the lung, interfering with the normal act of breathing. At the same time, the fatal outcome from pneumonia in bedridden patients when an abscess ruptures is quite high, since a person can simply suffocate, because in most such patients the cough reflex is reduced.

Fibrosis develops gradually. This complication is known for the abundant proliferation of fibrous tissue in the lung tissue, which reduces the performance of the organ.

Death from pneumonia in adults often occurs after the formation of complications, in contrast to children who, due to their age, do not have sufficient immunity. This is why death occurs in children when toxins enter the blood.

You can protect yourself from pneumonia if you pay attention to your own well-being, monitor deviations from the norm, seek help in a timely manner and do not neglect the prescribed treatment. Otherwise, it is possible to aggravate the process so much that death occurs.

Editor

Anna Sandalova

Pulmonologist

Though most of children who have recovered from the disease lead a full life without any health complaints, the consequences of pneumonia can be very serious.

This is especially dangerous in cases where parents do not pay due attention to treatment and prevention, allowing the disease to take its course. In such a situation, complications are not uncommon that can cause a number of associated pathologies.

Statistics: children died from pneumonia

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the most common causes is when a child died of pneumonia. Every year about 1.8 million guys around the world, which is 18% of the total number of child deaths. There are no recent statistics for Russia. The greatest “losses” occur among children under five years of age; a significant proportion falls on children under one year of age.

Mortality statistics

Real complications arise if parents are irresponsible in treating pneumonia, do not complete a course of antibiotics, or additionally “freeze” the baby, further weakening his immunity.

Such consequences can be for the child real threat. Some of them are easily treated or go away on their own over time, while others require long-term therapy with no guarantee complete cure. Moreover You can’t fight most of them on your own, medical intervention is required. Is it dangerous or not to allow complications?

Below we will consider the complications that pneumonia can lead to in a child, and why each form is dangerous. You will understand that it is better to treat pneumonia very responsibly from the very beginning.

Respiratory failure

It is expressed in a decrease in the functionality of the alveoli (bubbles in the lungs that are responsible for saturating the blood with oxygen). Manifests itself in the form of severe shortness of breath and pallor. Sometimes bluish lips and shallow breathing are added. The disease occurs in three stages:

• constant shortness of breath with little physical exertion;
• severe shortness of breath without exertion, even during sleep;
• Nausea and vomiting are added to shortness of breath; the stage is protracted and difficult to treat.

The first stages are overcome, the third requires the intervention of a pediatrician.

Exudative pleurisy

Occurs when there is insufficient effective treatment pneumonia.

A large amount of fluid accumulates in the pleura (the membrane surrounding the lungs). Because of this there is high blood pressure on the respiratory system. The child begins to choke and lacks air.

Ignoring this complication often leads to infectious infection this liquid. Begin purulent processes, Possible blood poisoning.

If the first stage of pleurisy can be eliminated by removing the fluid with a special needle, then when infected, surgery is required. You need to be treated strictly in a hospital!

Heart failure

Occurs when severe forms pneumonia.

Pneumonia is always an intoxication of the body and severe dehydration. All this puts a lot of stress on the heart and blood vessels, as a result of which their functioning is disrupted. If you ignore the complication, Possible death due to cardiac arrest or pulmonary edema.

Pulmonary edema develops very quickly, the first symptoms appear 2-3 hours after cardiac dysfunction: shortness of breath, vomiting, severe weakness, foamy discharge from the mouth, swelling of the face. If these signs appear, you should call an ambulance.

Lung gangrene

Abscess (inflammation that precedes gangrene) occurs rarely in children, but the condition must be closely monitored - a complication that can lead to death. A lesion appears in an area of ​​the lung filled with purulent masses. The tissues are spreading and “melting”. Symptoms are typical:

• unpleasant odor from sputum and when breathing;
• fingers and, less often, toes become swollen;
• vomiting, diarrhea;
• severe weakness;
• fainting is possible.

The abscess can be stopped with injections of antibiotics, but developed gangrene can only be eliminated surgically, and the consequences of this complication will last a lifetime.

Blood poisoning

Infectious inflammatory processes in the lungs can spread to other organs. In addition to the fact that sepsis can be fatal, the following diseases may develop:

• peritonitis;
• meningitis;
• septic arthritis;
• endocarditis.

It is possible that all these pathologies will come at the same time, then the treatment will become long and difficult, and the baby will suffer severe stress, which will invariably affect his psyche and health in the future. Symptoms of sepsis include:

• low pressure;
• damp and pale skin;
• fainting;
• tachycardia;
• depressed state.

If these symptoms appear, you should immediately seek help, as infection develops very quickly.

Important! Pleurisy, blood poisoning and gangrene sometimes occur simultaneously due to the spread of infection throughout the body. If one of these complications is detected, it is worth checking the child for other diseases.

When can you not be treated at home?

As mentioned above, pneumonia can cause severe complications, which often lead to the death of babies. Treatment requires constant monitoring, which parents are unable to provide. You can refuse only in case of mild forms of pneumonia and if the apartment is in good sanitary condition.

Pneumonia cannot be treated at home if:

• the child has not reached the age of three;
• the baby often suffers colds(this is talking about weak immunity, the risk of complications is increased);
• developed severe course pneumonia;
• there are signs of complications;
• poor sanitary conditions;
• the child has heart or kidney problems;
• the baby is premature or has a birth injury.

In all these cases, constant medical supervision is required; refusal to hospitalize can lead to tragedy.

Useful video

We invite you to watch a report on child mortality and complications of pneumonia:

Conclusion

Pneumonia (pneumonia) always becomes a difficult ordeal for a child and his parents. It’s even worse if the first signs of complications were missed. Pneumonia should not be taken lightly; it is an insidious and dangerous disease. The health of the child is, first of all, in the hands of the parents. Their attitude to treatment determines whether the child will be happy or whether a smile will appear on his lips less and less often!