Saturday, February, 11, 2012

Atypical pneumonia

Table of Contents

Alternative Names

Walking pneumonia; Chlamydophila pneumoniae; Community-acquired pneumonia - atypical


Symptoms

Pneumonia due to mycoplasma and chlamydophila bacteria is usually mild.

  • Pneumonia due to Legionella pneumophila gets worse during the first 4 - 6 days, and then improves over 4 - 5 days.
  • Even though symptoms will improve, it may take a while for them to go away completely.

The most common symptoms of pneumonia are:

  • Chills
  • Cough (with Legionella pneumonia, you may cough up bloody mucus)
  • Fever, which may be mild or high
  • Shortness of breath (may only occur when you climb stairs)

Other symptoms include:

  • Chest pain that gets worse when you breathe deeply or cough
  • Confusion, especially in older people or those with Legionella pneumonia
  • Headache
  • Loss of appetite, low energy, and fatigue
  • Muscle aches and joint stiffness
  • Sweating and clammy skin

Less common symptoms include:

  • Diarrhea (especially with Legionella pneumonia)
  • Ear pain (with mycoplasma pneumonia)
  • Eye pain or soreness (with mycoplasma pneumonia)
  • Neck lump (with mycoplasma pneumonia)
  • Rash (with mycoplasma pneumonia)
  • Sore throat (with mycoplasma pneumonia)

Signs and tests

Persons with suspected pneumonia should have a complete medical evaluation. It may be hard for your health care provider to tell whether you have pneumonia or bronchitis, so you may need a chest x-ray. Depending on the severity of the illness, other tests may be done, including:

  • Complete blood count (CBC)
  • Blood cultures
  • Blood tests to identify the bacteria
  • Bronchoscopy (rarely needed)
  • CT scan of the chest
  • Open lung biopsy (only done in very serious illnesses when the diagnosis cannot be made from other sources)
  • Sputum culture

Urine tests or a throat swab may also be done.


Review Date: 09/15/2010
Reviewed By: Denis Hadjiliadis, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)