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Is Pneumonia Contagious?
Question: I have been coughing for several weeks. Started running a fever of 101 with chills and fever and headaches. Saw PA on Monday who said I had a sinus infection. Prescribed Cipro (only antibiotic I can take). I also requested a chest xray for work (TB clearance). Office called to tell me I have pneumonia in my lower right lung and they will see me again in 6 weeks. Should I ask for further tests? Am I contagious? What can I do to recover?
Brief Answer:
Management and prognosis for pneumonia and precautions which needs to taken
Detailed Answer:
Hi!
Welcome to health care magic!
I am Dr. Saddiq Ul Abidin. I have read your problem in detail and will try to help you in best way possible.
First of all, it is sad to know the kind of problems, you were facing lately, but i want to ensure you that in majority of cases it is a reversible infection and after proper cure and treatement leaves no aftermyths. Pneumonia is basically the infection of lower respiratory tract, which is contrary to what you had been treated for, as you mentioned as sinusitis however, it is quite possible to have concomitant infection of both upper and lower respiratory tracts.
The fever, cough and headaches can be sequelae of this, but in my opinion, you need to switch antibiotic, as if fever is persistent and infection has involved an entire lobe of the lungs, you may need to consult your health facility and may receive intravenous antibiotics with indoor management, but before that you can give it a second try with a changed antibiotic like a macrolide, which have good respiratory coverage or moxifloxacin which is superior to cipro in this regard.
Also that culture of blood and sputum can be run, to exactly determine the notorious organism.
Meanwhile keep regular followups with your doctor, and you can use any histamines and anti tussives for cough and headaches and other associated discomfort. Keep using good anti pyretics to avoid fever spikes recurrence. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Hope this has answered your query, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. kindly rate me before closing, and leave your feedback if possible.
Regards,
Dr. Saddiq Ul abidin.
Management and prognosis for pneumonia and precautions which needs to taken
Detailed Answer:
Hi!
Welcome to health care magic!
I am Dr. Saddiq Ul Abidin. I have read your problem in detail and will try to help you in best way possible.
First of all, it is sad to know the kind of problems, you were facing lately, but i want to ensure you that in majority of cases it is a reversible infection and after proper cure and treatement leaves no aftermyths. Pneumonia is basically the infection of lower respiratory tract, which is contrary to what you had been treated for, as you mentioned as sinusitis however, it is quite possible to have concomitant infection of both upper and lower respiratory tracts.
The fever, cough and headaches can be sequelae of this, but in my opinion, you need to switch antibiotic, as if fever is persistent and infection has involved an entire lobe of the lungs, you may need to consult your health facility and may receive intravenous antibiotics with indoor management, but before that you can give it a second try with a changed antibiotic like a macrolide, which have good respiratory coverage or moxifloxacin which is superior to cipro in this regard.
Also that culture of blood and sputum can be run, to exactly determine the notorious organism.
Meanwhile keep regular followups with your doctor, and you can use any histamines and anti tussives for cough and headaches and other associated discomfort. Keep using good anti pyretics to avoid fever spikes recurrence. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Hope this has answered your query, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. kindly rate me before closing, and leave your feedback if possible.
Regards,
Dr. Saddiq Ul abidin.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Brief Answer:
antibiotics options and other investigations
Detailed Answer:
Hi, the other antibiotic which I had mentioned like moxifloxacin, belong to same group as cipro, sk of you are not allergic to cipro, so likelihood is that you will be able to tolerate moxifloxacin too. But before that, you must have the test dose first, and for the said purpose, the first dose should be taken at hospital, for any kind of risk management.
Other investigation modalities are CT chest which can give exact discription of the lesion which has come on chest Xray.
And yes, such infections can spread with coughing so proper measures should be taken for the purpose, like using masks and avoiding close contacts, but only during acute phases, once it settles down, and with remission everything comes back to normal.
Kindly rate me before closing, and leave feedback if possible. Regards.
antibiotics options and other investigations
Detailed Answer:
Hi, the other antibiotic which I had mentioned like moxifloxacin, belong to same group as cipro, sk of you are not allergic to cipro, so likelihood is that you will be able to tolerate moxifloxacin too. But before that, you must have the test dose first, and for the said purpose, the first dose should be taken at hospital, for any kind of risk management.
Other investigation modalities are CT chest which can give exact discription of the lesion which has come on chest Xray.
And yes, such infections can spread with coughing so proper measures should be taken for the purpose, like using masks and avoiding close contacts, but only during acute phases, once it settles down, and with remission everything comes back to normal.
Kindly rate me before closing, and leave feedback if possible. Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Neel Kudchadkar
Answered by
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