Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List
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| | N | | | O | | | P | | | Q | | | R | | | S | | | T | | | U | | | V | | | W | | | X | | | Y | |
Causes of Pneumonia
Pneumonia is caused by a wide range of germs, including:
- Streptococcus,
- Haemophilus,
- Klebsiella,
- Legionella, and
- Tuberculosis.
It can also be caused by inhaling irritant substances, especially vomit. This is called aspiration pneumonia.
Some pneumonias are caused by allergies to work-related materials (occupational hazards). These are often known as:
- farmer’s lung,
- pigeon’s fancier’s lung,
- wool-sorter’s lung,
- malt-worker’s lung, and
- cheese-handler’s lung.
Another work-related cause is an allergy to inhaled dust from sugar cane waste (bagassosis).
There are many factors that may increase the risk of pneumonia occurring, such as:
- bronchiectasis,
- smoking,
- chronic alcohol misuse,
- intravenous drug misuse,
- weakened immune system (through spleen removal, chemotherapy or AIDS for example),·
- cystic fibrosis, or
- lung cancer.
