http://www.fpnotebook.com/

Viral Pneumonia

See Also
1. Bacterial Pneumonia
Causes
1. See Pneumonia Causes
Signs: Factors that differentiate from bacterial cause
1. Non-productive cough
2. Gradual Onset with prodrome (malaise and Headache)
3. Chest XRay more impressive than exam
4. Onset in fall or winter
5. Wheezing more common in viral causes
6. Low grade temperature (<101.3 F)
7. Conjunctivitis
  1. Adenovirus most commonly causes Conjunctivitis
Labs
1. Sputum Gram Stain
  1. Negative
Radiology: Chest XRay
1. Air trapping
2. Bilateral fine, fluffy infiltrates
3. Atelectasis
Management
1. Influenza A
  1. Symmetrel
2. Respiratory Syncytial Virus
  1. Manage comorbidity
  2. Ribavirin for infants with severe comorbidity
3. Herpes Simplex Virus or Varicella Zoster Virus
  1. Acyclovir
4. Cytomegalovirus
  1. Ganciclovir or Foscarnet
Complications
1. Risk of secondary infection

Navigation Tree

Please see the Terms and Conditions. Please also see the privacy statement regarding advertising on this page. Although access to this page is not restricted, the information found here is intended for use by medical providers. Patients should address specific medical concerns with their physicians.

This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.