
- Spread of the infection
Calling your health care provider:
Call your health care provider if you are immunosuppressed and you have symptoms of pneumonia.
If you have a weakened immune system and are in the hospital, you may receive daily antibiotics to prevent pneumonia.
Ask your health care provider if you should receive the flu and pneumonia vaccines.
Practice good hygiene. Thoroughly ash your hands with soap and water:
- After being outdoors
- After changing a diaper
- After doing housework
- After going to the bathroom
- After touching body fluids, such as mucus or blood
- After using the telephone
- Before handling food or eating
Keep your house clean. Stay away from crowds. Ask visitors who have a cold to wear a mask or not to visit. Do not do yard work or handle plants or flowers (they can carry germs).
American Thoracic Society. Guidelines for the management of adults with hospital-acquired, ventilator-associated, and healthcare-associated pneumonia. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005 Feb 15;171(4):388-416.
Mandell LA, Wunderink RG, Anzueto A, et al. Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society consensus guidelines on the management of community-acquired pneumonia in adults. Clin Infect Dis. 2007 Mar 1;44 Suppl 2:S27-72.
Young LS. Approach to fever and suspected infection in the compromised host. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier. 2007: chap 303.
|Review Date: 6/10/2009|
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Jatin M. Vyas, PhD, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Assistant in Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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