Pneumonia is a medical condition that develops from microorganisms that cause different types of infections. Some of those being viral, bacterial, fungal, parasite or chemical induced infections that wreak havoc within the lungs. Once an individual is diagnosed with pneumonia he or she needs proper treatment from doctors and plenty of rest so the body can heal.

How do doctors diagnose the type of pneumonia a patient is fighting?

The first way the diagnosing begins is by going over the symptoms a patient is experiencing to determine the following types of pneumonia:

1. Viral pneumonia

With viral pneumonia, a patient will experience the development of symptoms slowly. For example, with viral pneumonia, the individual doesn’t experience symptoms at all until the infection becomes serious. Once the infection brings forth symptoms a person will experience a high fever, wheezing with shortness of breathing, little to no mucus when coughing and exhaustion.

2. Bacterial pneumonia

With bacterial pneumonia, the symptoms happen quickly. An individual with this type of pneumonia will experience more than just shortness of breath and fever. They can begin experiencing vomiting and nausea, headache, sharp pains in the chest and the coughing up of red or green mucus. In severe cases when breathing becomes a real struggle, the fingernails and lips of the individual can become bluish-purple from lack of oxygen.

3. Fungal pneumonia

In an individual suffering from fungal pneumonia symptoms of weight loss and a lack of energy are experienced first. Next symptoms are wheezing, fungal and fluid build-up within the lungs and chronic coughing. This type of pneumonia is rare but happens in people with compromised immune systems.

4. Parasitic pneumonia

People with compromised immune systems can also deal with the infection of parasitic pneumonia, but this type of infection is also rare. It occurs more often in individuals with no or little immune system who eat crayfish or crab meat but causes similar symptoms to bacterial pneumonia.

5. Mycoplasma pneumonia

With all that said, thankfully you do not have to worry about viral, bacterial, fungal, or parasitic pneumonia spreading from person to person. The type of pneumonia you do have to worry about contracting is mycoplasma pneumonia. Mycoplasma pneumonia is spread by respiratory fluid that spread during coughing or sneezing. Thankfully, mycoplasma pneumonia is a mild infection and easily treatable. Without treatment though it can become serious. Symptoms of this type of infection are similar to viral but milder.

6. How is pneumonia treated?

The type of treatment or treatments a patient may need depends on the type of pneumonia infection and symptoms they are dealing with daily. For example, viral pneumonia needs antiviral medication whereas bacterial needs antibacterial medication. Sometimes medication for fever, aches, and pains and difficulty breathing are needed too. The doctor or team of doctors will decide which course of treatment is best.

Remember, pneumonia that goes untreated by doctors can be fatal, but treated cases can help speed up the recovery process or make dealing with the symptoms that come along with this type of infection easier. Discovering what type an individual is dealing with is easy with blood testing, x-rays of the chest and a doctor examining the and the symptoms.