Community Acquired Pneumonia. Pneumonia is an inflammation or infection of the lungs most commonly caused by a bacteria or virus.

Pneumonia can also be caused by inhaling vomit or other foreign substances. In all cases, the lungs' air sacs fill with pus , mucous, and other liquids and cannot function properly. This means oxygen cannot reach the blood and the cells of the body. Most pneumonias are caused by bacterial infections.The most common infectious cause of pneumonia in the United States is the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. Bacterial pneumonia can attack anyone. The most common cause of bacterial pneumonia in adults is a bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae or Pneumococcus. Pneumococcal pneumonia occurs only in the lobar form. An increasing number of viruses are being identified as the cause of respiratory infection. Half of all pneumonias are believed to be of viral origin. Most viral pneumonias are patchy and the body usually fights them off without help from medications or other treatments

Etiology Community-acquired pneumonia develops in people with limited or no contact with medical institutions or settings. The most commonly identified pathogens areStreptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and atypical organisms (ie, Chlamydia pneumoniae,Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Legionella sp). Symptoms and signs are fever, cough, pleuritic chest pain, dyspnea, tachypnea, and tachycardia. Diagnosis is based on clinical presentation and chest x-ray. Treatment is with empirically chosen antibiotics. Prognosis is excellent for relatively young or healthy patients, but many pneumonias, especially when caused by S. pneumoniae or influenza virus, are fatal in older, sicker patients. S/S -Fever - dyspnea - progressive cough - fatigue

Anatomy & Physiology The lungs are paired, cone-shaped organs which take up most of the space in our chests, along with the heart. Their role is to take oxygen into the body, which we need for our cells to live and function properly, and to help us get rid of carbon dioxide, which is a waste product. We each have two lungs, a left lung and a right lung. These are divided up into 'lobes', or big sections of tissue separated by 'fissures' or dividers. The right lung has three lobes but the left lung has only two, because the heart takes up some of the space in the left side of our chest. The lungs can also be divided up into even smaller portions, called 'bronchopulmonary segments'.

These are pyramidal-shaped areas which are also separated from each other by membranes. There are about 10 of them in each lung. Each segment receives its own blood supply and air supply.

Air enters your lungs through a system of pipes called the bronchi. These pipes start from the bottom of the trachea as the left and right bronchi and branch many times throughout the lungs, until they eventually form little thin-walled air sacs or bubbles, known as the alveoli. The alveoli are where the important work of gas exchange takes place between the air and your blood. Covering each alveolus is a whole network of little blood vessel called capillaries, which are very small branches of the pulmonary arteries. It is important that the air in the alveoli and the blood in the capillaries are very close together, so that oxygen and carbon dioxide can move (or diffuse) between them. So, when you breathe in, air comes down the trachea and through the bronchi into the alveoli. This fresh air has lots of oxygen in it, and some of this oxygen will travel across the walls of the alveoli into your bloodstream. Travelling in the opposite direction is carbon dioxide, which crosses from the blood in the capillaries into the air in the alveoli and is then breathed out. In this way, you bring in to your body the oxygen that you need to live, and get rid of the waste product carbon dioxide.

Pathophysiology
Virulent Microorganism Streptococcus Pneumoniae

Microorganism eneters the nose( nasal passages)

Passes through the larynx, pharynx, trachea

Microorganism enters and affects both airway and lung parenchyma

Airway damage Lung invasion

Infiltration of bronchi flattening of epithelial cells

Infectious organism lodges macrophages and leukocytes Stimulation in bronchioles mucus and phlegm production necrosis of bronchial tissues

Alveolar collapse COUGHING

narrowing of air passage

Productive/non-productive Increase pyrogen in the body DIFFICULTY OF BREATHING

FEVER Necrosis of pulmonary tissue

Overwhelming sepsis

DEATH

Complications Emphysema Pneumococcal meningitis

Laboratory/ diagnostic test X-ray Dull percussion note on affected lung

Medical/ Surgical Management

Nursing Management Diagnosis :

Ineffective airway clearance related to increase mucus production. Acute pain related to localized inflammation and persistent cough. Activity intolerance related to imbalance between oxygen supply and demand possibly evidenced by reports of fatigue and other s/s.

Intervention : 1. Assessed rate/depth of respiration and chest movement. 2. Elevated head of bed and changed position frequently. 3. Encouraged increase in fluid intake.