How To Know If Your Child Has Pneumonia

Cough or Sore Throat

All pneumonia cases are infections of the lungs, which is part of the respiratory system. It would then be reasonably expected that other parts of the respiratory system, including the trachea (the windpipe), could get infected as the viruses or bacteria spread from the lungs to the nearby organs. If the infection from the lungs starts to spread to the trachea or throat, the body may start to produce phlegm, a thick mucus that the body uses to trap the viruses and bacteria. Unfortunately, the mucus can sometimes be so thick, that it starts to clump in the trachea or throat, such that the airway gets partially obstructed. The body will try to expel whatever it perceives to be blocking the airway, by forcefully projecting air from the lungs out the trachea, which is what we know as a cough.

There are cases wherein the child starts with a cough, but with no pneumonia. However, over a period of time, the viruses, bacteria, fungi, or parasites causing the cough would spread from the throat or trachea, into the lungs, and start to infect the lungs. What started out as a cough, can become pneumonia.