Sepsis and Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs. The infection can be only in one lung, or it can be in both. There are several causes of pneumonia but the most common are:

Left untreated, the infection can be deadly. In the days before antibiotics, it’s estimated that about one-third of those who developed bacterial pneumonia died.

Sepsis and septic shock can result from an infection anywhere in the body, including pneumonia. Pneumonia can be community-acquired, meaning someone develops pneumonia outside of the hospital. Pneumonia can also develop in a hospital or other healthcare facility, caused by a healthcare-associated infection (HAI). HAIs affect 1.7 million hospitalizations in the United States every year. An HAI is an infection contracted by people who are in the hospital for a different reason, such as surgery or treatment for another illness.

Sepsis, which was often called blood poisoning, is the body’s life-threatening response to infection. Like strokes or heart attacks, sepsis is a medical emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Suggested Citation:
Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis and Pneumonia. 2024. https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/pneumonia/

Updated January 5, 2024.

 

Funding for this campaign was provided by unrestricted support from Dompé.

More About Pneumonia

Symptoms

Some people can have pneumonia and not know it, but the most common signs and symptoms are:

  • Fever
  • Cough, with phlegm
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sweating
  • Shaking chills
  • Headache
  • Muscle pain
  • Fatigue
  • Chest pain with breathing

You do not have to have all these symptoms to have pneumonia. You may have heard the term “walking pneumonia.” It’s not an official medical term, but it usually means that it is a mild case, producing milder, slower-to-develop symptoms.

Risk Factors

While anyone can develop pneumonia, some people are at higher risk than others. These include those who:

  • Are older
  • Are very young
  • Recently had a cold, influenza, or COVID-19
  • Smoke
  • Have a respiratory illness, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Were or are exposed to certain inhaled toxins
  • Recently had surgery
  • Are in an intensive care unit
  • Are malnourished
Treatment

Pneumonia treatment depends on the type of infection you have.

Bacterial

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial pneumonia. The type of antibiotic your doctor would choose depends on the bacteria causing the infection. If you have a prescription for antibiotics, you should finish all the medication, even if you start to feel better. You will begin to feel more like yourself before the infection is completely gone. If you stop the medications before the infection disappears, you could get a more serious pneumonia that can’t be treated as easily.

Viral

Viral pneumonia does not respond to antibiotics; they will not do any good. In general, there isn’t much that can be done for viral pneumonia other than advising that you rest and take in plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. In some cases, doctors may prescribe an anti-viral medication.

Fungal

Medications called anti-fungals treat fungal pneumonia.

Prevention

Sometimes we can prevent pneumonia. If you will have general anesthetic for  surgery, you could be at risk for developing a bacterial pneumonia. To lower the risk, you will be encouraged to get up and out of bed after the procedure, even if you may not feel up to it. If you can’t get up and move around, you will be encouraged to breathe deeply and cough on a regular basis. This is to help keep your lungs clear. You might be given a device called an incentive spirometer. This small device encourages you to take deep breaths, to expand your lungs.

There is a vaccine that can help prevent pneumococcal pneumonia, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The CDC recommends that all adults over 65 and adults over 18 with certain risk factors receive the vaccine.

There is also a vaccine for children to decrease their risk of developing one of four types of infections, including pneumonia:

  • Meningitis (infection in the brain)
  • Bacteremia (infection in the blood)
  • Otitis media (infection in the middle ear)
  • Pneumonia

Related Resources

Information Guide

LA SEPSIS Y LA NEUMONÍA

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Information Guide

Pneumonia

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Georgiana Zipse

My story I’m sure it’s similar to many. I never heard the word sepsis until I’m staring at my mother as she takes her last breath in her hospital bed. It was a normal Tuesday afternoon. I had left work to pick up my daughter from church. And I noticed my mom’s house was quiet and the doors were shut. It was a hot afternoon so it was a little odd. I pulled over and decided to look through the window on her front door. I noticed that she was laying on her kitchen floor. I opened up the door ... Read Full Story

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Carol Mulkern

I had been feeling a bit “run down” as my Mom had just died. Two weeks later I went to an urgent care facility as I had pain when I urinated. I was prescribed antibiotics but they didn’t seem to work after 7 days. I reluctantly agreed to go to the local ED as my daughter thought I seemed “off”. The previous evening I had had the cold sweats as I was literally shivering out loud. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) Upon my arrival to the ED, vitals, medical history, urine spec, and chest X-ray were done. While waiting for ... Read Full Story

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Caitlin G.

June 2018 I suffered a catastrophic asthma attack resulting in respiratory and cardiac arrest and a double spontaneous pneumothorax. I was placed into a medical coma and spent 6 days fighting for my life. Within 24 hours of being on life support I developed legionaries pneumonia which caused sepsis. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I was septic for 4 days requiring adrenalin to be administered multiple times. Thankfully, with the help of my ICU team, I recovered however I am a 1 in 2 sepsis survivor who has lasting psychological effects, and an 1 in 6 sepsis survivor who has lasting memory ... Read Full Story

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Lore A.

After receiving some shocking news, my body collapsed due to a really bad case of anemia. Two blood transfusions led to lung failure and pneumonia and pneumonia then led to sepsis. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I still remember feeling the worst pain and saying my partner’s name over and over again and “please don’t let me die. I just turned 34 please not yet, not like this.” The experience has been one of the hardest things I have ever gone through and I know not a day will go by that I won’t think of it in some way. One day ... Read Full Story

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Sherry Parsons

In October 2008 I started getting chills and body aches, I thought it was just a typical flu bug, boy was i wrong. 3 days after feeling ill I started hallucinating, and within a couple hours I couldn’t walk anymore, so my husband rushed me to the emergency. 2 hours after arriving I lost consciousness. When I came to I was told I was put on a ventilator for 2 weeks as i had double pneumonia and sepsis. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) they had to do fluid resuscitation and my blood oxygen level was 38. I wasn’t supposed to live but ... Read Full Story

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Pneumonia