Atypical Pneumonia essays

Atypical Pneumonia essays Atypical pneumonia, also known as walking pneumonia, is a common cause of community-acquired pneumonia. Mycoplasm pneumomiae is the responsible organism which results in pneumonia in only 3% of cases; 20% of infections are asymptomatic, while 77% involve the upper respiratory tract. Although atypical pneumonia can occur at any time of the year, outbreaks tend to occur in the fall. The incubation period averages 3 weeks, in contrast to that of influenza and other viral pneumonias, which generally are a few days. Epidemics of mycoplasmal pneumonia tend to occur every 4-8 years in the general population and tend to be more frequent within closed populations, such as in military and prison populations. Mycoplasmal pneumonia is a disease of insidious onset. The patients history may include fever and chills, malaise, worsening dry cough, headache, scratchy sore throat, sore chest and tracheal tenderness and pleuritic chest pain, which is usually rare. Most cases of pneumonia due to M pneumoniae resolve after several weeks, although a dry cough can be present for as long as a month; some patients can have a protracted illness lasting as long as 6 weeks. The physical exam will reveal a nontoxic general appearance, erythematous tympanic membranes or bullous myringitis, mild pharyngeal erythema with minimal or no cervical adenopathy and no exudates. Usually there is a normal chest and lung exam with early infection but rhonchi, rales, and/or wheezes are heard via auscultation several days later. Generally lab studies are not needed but can be obtained. Complete blood counts tend to be within normal limits or slightly elevated. Sedimentation rate can be elevated with prolong infections. Chest radiographs should be obtained for definitive diagnosis, however at times there are no findings on x-ray and the clinician should treat presumptively. Macrolide antibiotics such as Erythromycin or Azithromycin are the drug treatment of choice due ...