- #1
caters
- 229
- 10
I had pneumonia once, it was mild enough(just felt like I had the flu for a month) that I did not go to the doctor because I figured it was viral. I didn't have a stethoscope but just having the flu for a month made me think that it was probably viral pneumonia(unlikely that I would get 1 virus right after another with the same symptoms, especially since I stayed indoors that entire month). I have had crackling lungs other times but no fever.
My dad, he was ill last year and it was getting worse and he had these coughing fits. My Momma asked me about what would be causing the coughing fits and I said "It could be pneumonia so they would do a culture, if the culture comes back positive, it is bacterial and he would be put on antibiotics, if the culture comes back negative, it is viral and you just treat the symptoms.
Well, it turned out that my dad did not have a culture done(which I was kind of annoyed about) and the doctor just put him on antibiotics after he got diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchitis. This I view as bad practice. The doctor just assumed it was bacterial when it easily could have been viral. Putting someone on antibiotics without doing a culture first increases antibiotic resistance(which is a major problem, especially with bacteria that cause pneumonia) and destroys the microbiome(which can be a major problem).
So why do doctors just assume that if someone comes in with pneumonia, it is bacterial? If I was diagnosing pneumonia, I would go through the effort of doing a culture that way I know what is causing it and only give antibiotics if the culture comes back positive, not just give antibiotics after I found out that the person has pneumonia.
My dad, he was ill last year and it was getting worse and he had these coughing fits. My Momma asked me about what would be causing the coughing fits and I said "It could be pneumonia so they would do a culture, if the culture comes back positive, it is bacterial and he would be put on antibiotics, if the culture comes back negative, it is viral and you just treat the symptoms.
Well, it turned out that my dad did not have a culture done(which I was kind of annoyed about) and the doctor just put him on antibiotics after he got diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchitis. This I view as bad practice. The doctor just assumed it was bacterial when it easily could have been viral. Putting someone on antibiotics without doing a culture first increases antibiotic resistance(which is a major problem, especially with bacteria that cause pneumonia) and destroys the microbiome(which can be a major problem).
So why do doctors just assume that if someone comes in with pneumonia, it is bacterial? If I was diagnosing pneumonia, I would go through the effort of doing a culture that way I know what is causing it and only give antibiotics if the culture comes back positive, not just give antibiotics after I found out that the person has pneumonia.