Pneumonia
Pneumonia, inflammation of one or both lungs . In people with pneumonia, air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid, preventing oxygen from reaching blood cells and nourishing the other cells of the body. Sometimes the inflammation occurs in scattered patches in the tissue around the ends of the bronchioles, the smallest air tubes in the lungs. This is known as bronchopneumonia. In other cases the inflammation is widespread and involves an entire lobe of the lung. This condition is called lobar pneumonia. In the United States about 5 million cases of pneumonia are reported each year and about 63,500 people die from the disease. Most cases of pneumonia result from infection with microorganisms, primarily viruses , bacteria , mycoplasmas (small, free-living particles with characteristics of both bacteria and viruses), and fungi . Pneumonia may also result from certain kinds of allergic reactions, inhalation of fluids or some gases, and the inhalation of ingested foods. To determine the cause ...