+- MacResource (https://forums.macresource.com)
+-- Forum: My Category (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Tips and Deals (https://forums.macresource.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Thread: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? (/showthread.php?tid=237671)
Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Dennis S - 02-27-2020
Can American hospitals do a good job curing pneumonia? Do you have to go to a special treatment center? Is the test widely available and covered by insurance and Medicare?
Re: Coronivirs - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - rjmacs - 02-27-2020
Pneumonia is a condition of inflammation of lung tissue (especially the air sacs, or alveoli) that makes it hard to breathe.
It can be caused by many different pathogens, infections, parasites, or toxins, and success of treatment is often related to the underlying cause of disease.
So, pneumonia caused by common bacterial pathogens can be prevented by vaccine. Pneumonia caused by viruses can be harder to treat.
There is not a reliable test for Covid-19 available at most medical centers right now - the tests are complex and currently carried out at advanced medical centers. Once one exists, it will surely be covered by Medicare and insurance where medically appropriate. There may also be public health subsidies to help pay the costs of testing and treatment.
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Lemon Drop - 02-27-2020
Dennis S wrote:
Can American hospitals do a good job curing pneumonia? Do you have to go to a special treatment center? Is the test widely available and covered by insurance and Medicare?
Pneumonia is not the only problem this virus causes, in the worst cases.
This is a good explanation of what happens to the body in the very rare cases when the COVID-19 virus puts people in the ICU:
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/14/805289669/how-covid-19-kills-the-new-coronavirus-disease-can-take-a-deadly-turn
As for how American hospitals do with pneumonia in general, not just specific to this illness, most people in the US who get it respond well to treatment. l
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - JoeH - 02-27-2020
Lemon Drop wrote:
As for how American hospitals do with pneumonia in general, not just specific to this illness, most people in the US who get it respond well to treatment. l
Information from the CDC is that in a normal year about 250,000 are admitted to hospitals for pneumonia, about 50,000 a year die from it. Could not find a figure for the total who get pneumonia a year, but it looks like if it is bad enough to need hospitalization you have a substantial chance of not surviving.
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Dennis S - 02-27-2020
Last line of the NPR article:
"What experts fear is that, like the flu, COVID-19 will keep coming back year after year."
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Dennis S - 02-27-2020
JoeH wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
As for how American hospitals do with pneumonia in general, not just specific to this illness, most people in the US who get it respond well to treatment. l
Information from the CDC is that in a normal year about 250,000 are admitted to hospitals for pneumonia, about 50,000 a year die from it. Could not find a figure for the total who get pneumonia a year, but it looks like if it is bad enough to need hospitalization you have a substantial chance of not surviving.p
People hospitalized with pneumonia have a 20% death rate? Wow!
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Lemon Drop - 02-27-2020
JoeH wrote:
[quote=Lemon Drop]
As for how American hospitals do with pneumonia in general, not just specific to this illness, most people in the US who get it respond well to treatment. l
Information from the CDC is that in a normal year about 250,000 are admitted to hospitals for pneumonia, about 50,000 a year die from it. Could not find a figure for the total who get pneumonia a year, but it looks like if it is bad enough to need hospitalization you have a substantial chance of not surviving.
1.7 million cases a year in the US. Majority of seniors in the US are vaccinated against this.
Most people who get it do recover
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/pneumonia.htm
I've had it, very nasty illness and do not wish it on anyone
I ended up in the ICU but not from the pneumonia, I had an allergic reaction to the drug they gave me.
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - rjmacs - 02-27-2020
Also, keep in mind that lots of folks who die after being admitted with pneumonia have LOTS of other co-morbidities, making them much more vulnerable to respiratory diseases like pneumonia than most healthy folks.
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - Lemon Drop - 02-27-2020
rjmacs wrote:
Also, keep in mind that lots of folks who die after being admitted with pneumonia have LOTS of other co-morbidities, making them much more vulnerable to respiratory diseases like pneumonia than most healthy folks.
Yes, and those are the folks most vulnerable to coronavirus.
Common bacterial pneumonia goes around schools and offices, it doesn't require hospitalization and most people are well in a week or less.
Re: Coronavirus questions - Is pneumonia what is killing people? - pdq - 02-27-2020
Pneumonia has been (and still remains, to a significant extent) the Captain of the Men of Death.