Cold & Flu Season - Flu Shots

Fall brings on colds and the flu. Make sure your prepared by stopping into your local Urgent Care Association near you. Help prevent this years cold and flu attack, make sure you get your flu shot!

 

Pneumonia & Respiratory Health Care Treatment for pneumonia almost always involves antibiotics. Younger, otherwise healthy people with strong immune systems usually respond well to antibiotics. Hospitalization usually is not needed.

* Antibiotics usually are continued for 5 to 14 days. They may be continued longer for people with impaired immune systems. Doctors have a large number of antibiotics to choose from to treat pneumonia.

* An inhaled medication called a bronchodilator (such as salbutamol) may be used to open airways and ma

* Some improvement in symptoms is usually seen within 2 to 3 days. Unless the person gets worse during this time, the treatment usually is not changed for at least 3 days.
Pneumonia also can be caused by viruses, such as those that cause influenza (flu) and chickenpox (varicella). There is no proven medication to treat pneumonia caused by the influenza virus. 1 Varicella pneumonia, which is rare, can be treated with the antiviral medication acyclovir.

Hospitalization may be needed if a person:

       Is over age 65. Has other health problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, asthma, diabetes, long-term (chronic) kidney failure, or chronic liver disease. Cannot care for him- or herself or would not be able to tell anyone if symptoms worsened. Has severe illness with less oxygen getting to the tissues (hypoxia). Has chest pain caused by inflammation of the lining of the lung (pleurisy) and therefore is not able to cough up mucus effectively and clear the lungs. Is being treated outside a hospital and does not get better (such as fever does not go down or returns, dry cough begins to bring up mucus from the lungs, or shortness of breath increases).

 

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