How is pneumonia treated?

Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
Updated on February 12, 2025
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Pneumonia is a common disease in clinical practice, with patients often experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, and expectoration. If a lung X-ray is taken, shadows can be seen in the lungs. The treatment of pneumonia primarily involves addressing the cause. For instance, if it is bacterial, appropriate sensitive antibiotics are chosen for treatment. If it is caused by a virus, suitable antiviral drugs are selected, and for fungal pneumonia, antifungal drugs should be chosen. If it is related to allergies, anti-allergy medications should be used. Additionally, symptomatic treatment is applied, such as antipyretics for fever. Depending on the situation, medications for cough suppression, phlegm reduction, and asthma relief may also be used. (The use of medications should be under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Li Jian Wu
Pulmonology
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Pneumonia symptoms in children

Children presenting with pneumonia primarily exhibit symptoms related to respiratory infections, with fever often as a typical manifestation. Common symptoms include sudden chills, high fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, and vomiting, followed by an irritative dry cough. As the condition progresses, the dry cough turns into a productive cough with phlegm, accompanied by difficulty breathing, chest pain, and expectoration. Some may also show signs of oxygen deprivation such as cyanosis of the lips and changes in nail color. Active chest X-ray and routine blood tests are necessary for diagnosis.

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Written by Han Shun Li
Pulmonology
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How is pneumonia treated?

Pneumonia is a common disease in clinical practice, with patients often experiencing symptoms such as fever, cough, and expectoration. If a lung X-ray is taken, shadows can be seen in the lungs. The treatment of pneumonia primarily involves addressing the cause. For instance, if it is bacterial, appropriate sensitive antibiotics are chosen for treatment. If it is caused by a virus, suitable antiviral drugs are selected, and for fungal pneumonia, antifungal drugs should be chosen. If it is related to allergies, anti-allergy medications should be used. Additionally, symptomatic treatment is applied, such as antipyretics for fever. Depending on the situation, medications for cough suppression, phlegm reduction, and asthma relief may also be used. (The use of medications should be under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Wang Xiang Yu
Pulmonology
57sec home-news-image

What department should I go to for pneumonia?

Pneumonia, as the name suggests, is inflammation of the lungs and belongs to the category of respiratory diseases. Therefore, the primary department to consult is Respiratory Medicine. In places where there is no Respiratory Medicine department, such as community health service centers or township health clinics, patients would have to consult the general internal medicine department instead. Of course, if the symptoms of pneumonia are severe and the condition is critical, and it happens outside of regular outpatient hours, then the patient must be seen by the emergency medicine department. The emergency medicine department will manage and triage pneumonia patients, and then decide their next steps, such as whether to transfer them to the ICU, a regular Respiratory Medicine department, or keep them for observation in the emergency department.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
1min 14sec home-news-image

Do you have a runny nose with pneumonia?

In clinical settings, pneumonia patients exhibit varying accompanying symptoms depending on the type of pneumonia. Particularly in very young infants, the early symptoms might primarily include nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and even fever, without obvious coughing symptoms. In some newborns, pneumonia can be diagnosed through auscultation at this stage. In adults, certain types of pneumonia, such as those caused by viral infections, may not receive timely and effective anti-infective or antiviral treatment initially. In these cases, the condition can worsen and spread, leading to pneumonia, with some patients also experiencing symptoms of a runny nose. Of course, conditions like most cases of mycoplasma pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia, and lung abscesses that cause pulmonary inflammation usually do not involve a runny nose. Therefore, in clinical practice, if pneumonia is accompanied by a runny nose, it is usually due to specific circumstances of the illness.

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Written by Hu Xue Jun
Pulmonology
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Can pneumonia be cured?

Can pneumonia be cured, and will there be any sequelae? Generally speaking, common pneumonia without complications can be completely cured. If pneumonia infection is detected, seek medical attention in a timely manner and treat it rationally under the guidance of a professional doctor, it generally will not leave sequelae or affect lung function. However, some complications of pneumonia, such as meningitis and pericarditis, may leave symptoms like headaches, dizziness, palpitations, and chest pain. Ordinary pneumonia might leave streaky shadows or irregular pleura on chest X-rays or lung CT scans, but these will not impact the human body. Patients who have previously been infected with tuberculosis may have calcification spots in their lungs, which is a normal phenomenon. Some people may experience sequelae after treatment, such as hearing loss caused by the use of antimicrobial drugs, and avascular necrosis of the femoral head occurring after SARS treatment; however, these are possibly side effects of the drugs, rather than sequelae of pneumonia.