I have been struggling with pneumonia for about nine days with a fever that jumps to 102-103 unless I use Advil. I am on z-PAC and penicillin and a nubulizer. I had blood work, a chest X-ray and a cat scan.  At what point do you predict my doc will put me in the hospital? I am a  60 yr old white female, 155#, 5 5.
Hello, nine days with high fever that won't respond to antibiotics suggests either a viral infection or an infection by a pathogen, which is resistant to the antibiotics you take. If you had uploaded the lab test and X-ray report and particularly the CT scan, it would have been very helpful. A very high C-reactive protein for example is a sign of ongoing bacterial infection that hasn't been treated properly. Other signs that may predict a bad outcome include a low oxygen saturation, increased number of breaths per minute (particularly when they are more than 30), more than one site of infection on the CT or X-ray, comorbidities, a very fast heart rate, etc you understand that a lot of important data are lacking for me to give you a more specific answer. I'll be glad to do so, if you'd like to provide the data. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!