Pneumonia

Pneumonia is swelling (inflammation) of the tissue in one or both lungs. It’s usually caused by a bacterial infection.

At the end of the breathing tubes in your lungs are clusters of tiny air sacs. If you have pneumonia, these tiny sacs become inflamed and fill up with fluid.

Symptoms

The symptoms of pneumonia can develop suddenly over 24 to 48 hours, or they may come on more slowly over several days.

Common symptoms of pneumonia include:

a cough – which may be dry, or produce thick yellow, green, brown or blood-stained mucus (phlegm) difficulty breathing – your breathing may be rapid and shallow, and you may feel breathless, even when resting rapid heartbeat fever feeling generally unwell sweating and shivering loss of appetite chest pain – which gets worse when breathing or coughing

Less common symptoms include:

coughing up blood (haemoptysis) headaches fatigue nausea or vomiting wheezing joint and muscle pain feeling confused and disorientated, particularly in elderly people

When to see your GP

See your GP if you feel unwell and you have typical symptoms of pneumonia.

Seek urgent medical attention if you’re experiencing severe symptoms, such as rapid breathing, chest pain or confusion.