After the news of the postponement of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's trip to China – one of the most important on his agenda – due to a diagnosis of bronchopneumonia, questions arose about the disease.
Bronchopneumonia is an infection that affects the pulmonary alveoli – the lower part of the airway – and is usually spread through the bronchi. “It is the same as pneumonia; there is not much difference. It is a viral infection, through the airways, or bacterial. Transmission occurs through inhalation, meaning one person coughs and another inhales the bacillus, and the most common infectious agent is the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), and there are also atypical microorganisms,” says pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist, Jessica Polese.
Transmission occurs through the airways and most often by the bacteria that settle in the lungs when there are situations of low immunity in the individual. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, and yellowish or mucoid secretions, which are clear.
According to the pulmonologist, the treatment for pneumonia is done through antibiotics, after evaluation by a specialist, and we recommend rest and fluid intake. Rest is indicated for better treatment, to avoid transmission, and to increase the patient's immunity, so it does not become something serious:
“The severity of pneumonia depends on the germ and the immunological condition of the infected person. If the person has good immunity, this pneumonia can be milder; if the immunity is poor and the person is elderly, it can become more severe. There are some germs that are more aggressive, one of them is Staphylococcus aureus, which can follow a viral infection. It is indeed a severe necrotizing pneumonia, but generally, to become severe, it has to do with immunity,” points out Jessica.
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