Pneumonia? At the moment of the epidemic, you should understand the difference

Pneumonia is a common respiratory disease in daily life, which refers to inflammation of the end-respiratory trachea, alveoli, and interstitial lung.

It is classified clinically according to the different etiology and anatomical location. Due to different pathogenic bacteria (ie, the etiology), pneumonia is divided into bacterial pneumonia, viral pneumonia, pneumonia caused by atypical pathogens, and pulmonary fungal diseases .

Because bacterial pneumonia and viral pneumonia belong to two different types of pneumonia, they are different in many aspects such as pathogenic bacteria, pathological changes, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis and treatment.

The new type of coronavirus pneumonia that has caused epidemics recently belongs to viral pneumonia . During the anti-coronavirus campaign, people at home need to have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of pneumonia and learn to self-examine.

Here are the main differences between these two types of pneumonia.

First, the common pathogens are different

Bacterial pneumonia is the most common pneumonia in the clinic and refers to acute inflammation of the respiratory tract caused by different bacterial infections. Common pathogenic bacteria of this type of pneumonia include: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the like.

Viral pneumonia is inflammation of the interstitial lung and parenchyma caused by a variety of viruses invading the respiratory tract. As the name suggests, all the viruses that cause this type of pneumonia are viruses, and the common ones are: influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, cytomegalovirus, adenovirus and so on.

Second, there are differences in pathological changes

The typical pathological changes of bacterial pneumonia are parenchymal inflammatory lesions, often manifested as lobar pneumonia or bronchitis pneumonia . For example, the most common pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae , the lesions expand from the alveolar foramen to the surroundings, which can involve multiple lung segments or the entire lung lobe, and the patient has increased alveolar inflammatory secretions.

Viral pneumonia is mostly manifested as interstitial inflammation of the lungs, which widens the interstitial lung. Tissue edema, congestion, and a large number of monocyte infiltration can be seen in the alveolar space .

Third, clinical manifestations vary

Although both are caused by inflammation of the lungs, the clinical manifestations of the two are different.

Patients with bacterial pneumonia have obvious respiratory symptoms, usually cough, sputum, chest pain, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, and other symptoms.

Patients with viral pneumonia have acute onset, systemic symptoms such as fever, sore body, fatigue, headache, etc., and local chest signs are not significant.

Fourth, there are differences in laboratory testing

Whether it is bacterial or viral infection of pneumonia, it can cause white blood cells to rise.

But the types of white blood cells that rise are different:

Bacterial pneumonia is a significant increase in neutrophils , while viral pneumonia is mostly monocytes. And bacterial pneumonia can be determined by sputum culture, but viral pneumonia has no pathogenic bacteria after sputum culture.

Fifth, different treatment drugs

Patients with bacterial pneumonia need to have effective anti-infective treatment. According to different pathogenic bacteria, choose reasonable and effective antibiotics for treatment.

For example , penicillin should be selected for Streptococcus pneumoniae and cephalosporin should be selected for Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia.

For the treatment of viral pneumonia, effective virus inhibitors are mostly selected , such as ribavirin, oseltamivir, and adenosine arabinoside , which are mainly symptomatic treatments. And antibiotics for viral pneumonia have no therapeutic effect.

In summary, although bacterial pneumonia and viral pneumonia are both pneumonias, there are many clinical differences between the two and a clear differential diagnosis is needed.

The current epidemic situation requires that you develop good personal hygiene habits, pay attention to the air circulation in the room, have sufficient nutrition and “Stay Home, Stay Safe”.