A male client with pneumococcal pneumonia is admitted to an acute care facility. The client in the next room is being treated for mycoplasmal pneumonia. Despite the different causes of the various types of pneumonia, all of them share which feature?
a. Inflamed lung tissue
b. Sudden onset
c. Responsiveness to penicillin.
d. Elevated white blood cell (WBC) count
Answer A.
The common feature of all types of pneumonia is an inflammatory pulmonary response to the offending organism or agent. Although most types of pneumonia have a sudden onset, a few (such as anaerobic bacterial pneumonia and mycoplasmal pneumonia) have an insidious onset. Antibiotic therapy is the primary treatment for most types of pneumonia; however, the antibiotic must be specific for the causative agent, which may not be responsive to penicillin. A few types of pneumonia, such as viral pneumonia, aren’t treated with antibiotics. Although pneumonia usually causes an elevated WBC count, some types, such as mycoplasmal pneumonia, don’t.
a. Inflamed lung tissue
b. Sudden onset
c. Responsiveness to penicillin.
d. Elevated white blood cell (WBC) count
Answer A.
The common feature of all types of pneumonia is an inflammatory pulmonary response to the offending organism or agent. Although most types of pneumonia have a sudden onset, a few (such as anaerobic bacterial pneumonia and mycoplasmal pneumonia) have an insidious onset. Antibiotic therapy is the primary treatment for most types of pneumonia; however, the antibiotic must be specific for the causative agent, which may not be responsive to penicillin. A few types of pneumonia, such as viral pneumonia, aren’t treated with antibiotics. Although pneumonia usually causes an elevated WBC count, some types, such as mycoplasmal pneumonia, don’t.
