Health

COVID-19 Signs and Symptoms

10. Pneumonia

Norton Healthcare

Most Coronaviruses would make a person sick with mild to moderate respiratory issues.  The SARS in 2002, and the MERS in 2012, caused more severe respiratory issues.  Currently, COVID-19 is known to also cause more severe respiratory issues, similar to SARS and MERS.  There have been a substantial number of cases wherein COVID-19 patients developed pneumonia, some of them even having died of it.  Not surprisingly, many in the public would correlate pneumonia as automatically a symptom of COVID-19.  However, what is becoming evident is that pneumonia is just a complication of COVID-19, not a direct symptom of it.

Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs, one or both of them, with the air sacs (aka alveoli) getting inflamed and often building up fluid which should not be there.  The fluid is actually pus, and because it takes up the space that the air should be taking up, it makes breathing challenging, and sometimes almost impossible.  This infection is a result of a compromised immune system, either because the immune system is down (as it would be if one has diabetes or AIDS), or because the immune system is preoccupied fighting another infection, like it would be if one were infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Since COVID-19 starts out with mild symptoms, it is unlikely to go directly into full-blown pneumonia right away.  When a person has pneumonia, breathing will be labored, inhaling will be difficult.  This will require medical attention.  If caught early, it can be an outpatient case.  In more severe cases, it will require confinement.  Just the same, whether outpatient or requiring confinement, it must first be checked by a Medical Doctor.