Viral pneumonia

Description:

Viral pneumonia is the pneumonia caused by a virus.

Viruses — one of two major factors causing pneumonia, another — a bacterial infection; less widespread factors are the fungal infection and parasites.

The viral infection is the most frequent reason of pneumonia at children whereas adults are more often subject to threat of the pneumonia caused by a bacterial infection, or having the mixed virus and bacterial nature.

Symptoms of Viral pneumonia:

Symptoms of viral pneumonia are often similar to symptoms of a SARS or flu and include fever, unproductive cough, cold, and system manifestations (e.g. a mialgiya, a headache, a fever, an asthma). Also symptoms of the general intoxication of an organism — nausea, vomiting, diarrhea are possible.

Various viruses cause various symptomatology.

Reasons of Viral pneumonia:

Viruses attack organism cells to breed in them. Usually the virus gets into lungs in the airborne way: on a breath, through a mouth  or through a nose. Then the virus gets in the cells covering respiratory tracts and into alveoluses of lungs. As a result the cell most often perishes, killed directly with a virus or as a result of self-damage by apoptosis.

Further injuries of lungs result from an immune response of an organism on invasion of an infection. White blood cells, in particular lymphocytes, are responsible for activation of various chemicals (cytokines) that causes accumulation of liquid in alveoluses. The combination of self-damage of cells and accumulation of liquid in lungs leads to disturbances in oxygen exchange and to air hunger.

Except impact on bronchopulmonary system, many viruses attack also other bodies and can lead to serious consequences with disturbance of various functions of an organism. Viruses also weaken a host defense of an organism owing to what it becomes more subject to a bacterial infection.

Accession of a bacterial infection leads to development of bacterial pneumonia against the background of initial viral pneumonia and considerably makes heavier the course of a disease.

Are the most common causes of viral pneumonia:

    * Influenza virus A and B subtype
    * Respiratory and Syncytial Virus (RSV)
    * A parainfluenza (at children)

Also viral pneumonia is caused by more rare viruses:

    * Adenoviruses
    * Metapneumovirus
    * HARS (Heavy Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus also known under the name "atypical pneumonia"

Other kinds of viruses can cause pneumonia only in some cases:

    * The virus of a herpes simplex (HSV), a thicket leads to development of pneumonia in newborns
    * Virus of chicken pox
    * The cytomegalovirus, causes pneumonia in people with reduced immunity more often.

Treatment of Viral pneumonia:

Patients with the viral pneumonia caused by influenza viruses of subtypes A or B within 48 hours from the moment of emergence of symptoms should begin to accept neuraminidase drugs-inhibitors, Oseltamivir or Zanamivir (in Russia it is the drugs "Tamiflu" and "Relenz").

The Respiratory and Syncytial Virus (RSV) will respond to treatment ribaviriny. The virus of a herpes simplex and a virus of chicken pox are sensitive to an acyclovir. The cytomegalovirus is treated gantsikloviry.

Drugs for treatment of the viral pneumonia caused the TORSO (a heavy acute respiratory syndrome, atypical pneumonia), adenovirus, a parainfluenza virus do not exist now. Are possible only the therapy directed to increase in immunity and strengthening of protective forces of an organism, and a symptomatic treatment.