Table of contents:

Could there be pneumonia without coronavirus
Could there be pneumonia without coronavirus

Video: Could there be pneumonia without coronavirus

Video: Could there be pneumonia without coronavirus
Video: What is COVID pneumonia and can young people get it? 2024, March
Anonim

A complication of severe COVID-19 disease is pneumonia. Many are worried about the question: can there be pneumonia without coronavirus, because the causes of inflammation in the lungs are different.

The connection between pneumonia and COVID-19

With acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, flu, the alveoli are affected. These are the parts of the lung where gases are exchanged between blood and air. The disease, depending on the severity, affects one or two alveoli and surrounding tissues. As a result, natural breathing, ventilation is disturbed, phlegm accumulates.

In this environment, bacteria quickly and easily multiply, which provoke the onset of an inflammatory process in certain parts of the lungs. Pneumonia begins.

Image
Image

If it is caused by COVID-19, the process of inflammation is different. The cause is not bacteria, but a virus. It disrupts the normal work of the alveoli. They accumulate not only liquid, but also dead cells. With this type of inflammation, all the lungs are already affected, and not their parts.

In common pneumonia, treatment is based on antibiotics. With pneumonia caused by coronavirus infection, you must first deal with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There is a link between COVID-19 and pneumonia, but they are not the same thing.

Image
Image

Pneumonia and COVID-19 - Common and Differences

Both diseases are hazardous to health. Doctors make diagnoses based on examinations. By external symptoms, it is impossible to accurately distinguish between diseases, since the manifestations often coincide.

Alexander Ediger, a well-known pharmacologist, pathologist, suggested that COVID-19 is a specific pneumonia, since it affects not only the lungs, but also the digestive system. The differences between pneumonia and COVID-19 are summarized in the table.

Pneumonia

Coronavirus

infection

Non-infectious

Contagious
Primary disease, may be a complication Primary disease
Affects part of the lungs It affects both lungs, the digestive system, part of the nervous system. The effect on the body is not fully understood.
There are no symptoms Sometimes without symptoms
The onset is provoked by bacteria Viruses provoke the beginning

Experienced doctors distinguish between these pathologies, prescribe certain treatment regimens. When the first signs of malaise appear, a doctor should be called. Sometimes even specialists are not completely clear whether this pneumonia can be without coronavirus.

Image
Image

Pneumonia without COVID-19

Inflammation of the lungs can develop without a viral infection. Pneumonia is caused by many pathogens.

It can be:

  • bacteria (streptococci, pneumococci);
  • fungi (mold, yeast-like);
  • helminths.
Image
Image

Inflammation of the lungs can be of a mixed form, that is, it occurs under the influence of several pathogens. During seasonal illness, the likelihood of contracting pneumonia increases several times.

The risk group includes:

  • long-term smokers;
  • patients after surgery, especially on the lungs;
  • elderly people over the age of 65;
  • debilitated patients after severe treatment;
  • people with chronic diseases;
  • professional builders;
  • agricultural workers.

It has been noticed that people admitted to intensive care units are more at risk for pneumonia. Hospital-acquired pneumonia is considered a serious illness.

Image
Image

Those at risk have weak lungs, and they can get pneumonia without contracting COVID-19. Others also got pneumonia earlier, while there was no coronavirus infection.

Elena Esaulenko, MD, infectious disease doctor, chief freelance specialist in the field of infectious diseases at the Ministry of Health of the Northwestern Federal District, claims that pneumonia is a complication after many diseases. It cannot be assumed that every pneumonia is associated with a coronavirus infection. Only tests can confirm the presence of COVID-19.

Image
Image

Olga Titova, the chief pulmonologist of St. Petersburg, director of the Research Institute of Pulmonology of the Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University, said that the number of patients with community-acquired pneumonia had increased. She attributes this to unstable weather and the end of the heating season. In the fall and spring, statistics regularly note bursts of colds and complications in the form of pneumonia.

Answering the question of whether there can be pneumonia without coronavirus, one must take into account the nature of these diseases. Pneumonia can be caused by many other pathogens other than COVID-19. Pneumonia can occur without coronavirus infection. This is confirmed by medical practitioners.

Image
Image

Summarize

  1. COVID-19 infection and pneumonia have many similarities, but there are also many differences.
  2. The causes of pneumonia can be different pathogens, not only SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
  3. People at risk are more likely to develop pneumonia.
  4. Pneumonia can develop without the COVID-19 viral infection.

Recommended: