How do you catch Pneumonia.....

[trt]

I read in the news that George Micheal had gone down with it, is he a bit young to suffer with it, and what is it exactly ?

[seekeerz]

being very run down and in poor health generally can do it, I don't think age really matters - see what happens if you burn the candle at both ends !!

[Hopkirk]

I have to wonder if GM is suffering from something else.

[seekeerz]

now don't go casting asparagus like that kirk !!!

[Hopkirk]

Well let's wait and see

[Sqad]

Hopkirk....Pneumocystitis pnuemoniae (PCP).............i think that you NAY have a point...;-)

[Sqad]

Hopkirk...sp. Pneumocystis pneumoniae

[Eve]

I had viral pneumonia in the midst of my A Levels so I was quite young. Inflammation/infection of the lungs but can vary in severity.

It was initially thought might have a blood clot as I was in plaster ankle to hip at the time after tearing a knee ligament so when my mum called a GP out he had me ambulanced to hospital.

I remember the day before sitting in an exam feeling like I had a randomly bad hayfever attack then waking up hardly being able to breathe and feeling really ill though wasn't really very with it.

My immune system was probably rubbish then though as I was suffering badly from an eating disorder at that point. My asthma was also quite bad back then then too (seem to have grown out of it) which probably didn't help.

Strange really as I was due to go to a very good university at St Andrews to study French, Russian and Italian but after I only got part awards after someone screwed up my special circumstances thing so I ended up going to my insurance choice uni then switched to law after the first year and became a lawyer. St A's are a different jurisdiction and don't even do law so who knows where I would have ended up if it hadn't been for that!

[TheShakeperian]

Pneumonia just means fluid on the lungs, it is a symptom of many diseases not a disease in it's self. Babies can and do get pneumonia.
You can get pneumonia from inhaling water by falling in to it for example, it does not even need a disease to cause it.

[razza]

According to my mum I had it at 9 months old

[cathfromsaron]

a virus infection which affects the lungs in a certain way! early antibs would have prevented it!

[bigglez]

init contajus

[daffy654]

Hopkirk, I said what you are thinking a couple of days ago to my other half.

[Sqad]

TheShakespear.

\\\Pneumonia just means fluid on the lungs\\\

It may be to you.....but not to the medical profession.

[jomifl]

Cath ..antibiotics are not effective on viruses as they operate on the cell wall and viruses are not a cell as it is usually understood.

[Sqad]

jomifll..........I think that was not what cath meant........as she is usually very "savy" on medical matters.

[sara3]

shame the man can't just have an illness without all the nudge-nudging.

what do you think then? HIV because he's gay? drug overdose?

or maybe just lung cancer because he smokes? no??

[boxtops]

anybody can pick up the virus, but it's more likely to happen if you are already run down - a lot of elderly people suffer because of immobility after an accident. Whether you like his lifestyle or not, gay people catch the same respiratory viruses as we do - please let's not speculate like this until we know - he's ill - full stop.

[Sqad]

boxy.....you are going onto one of your "over-sensitive moods.

Medical and Surgical diagnosis has "speculation" as it's basis, less now than say 50 years ago.....but not much;-)

One listens to the patient's story, one examines the patient ...then one................SPECULATES. One then does the appropriate investigations to see if one can substantiate one's speculations.

Nothing much has changed.

[anneasquith]

sara. i agree, lets just hope he improves soon.