Pope Francis, the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church, remains hospitalized in Rome with complications from pneumonia, a common lung infection in older adults.
In Connecticut, respiratory illnesses including pneumonia, influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have been in circulation this season.
The state has been particularly hard hit by influenza.
As of Feb. 25, state public health officials reported 2,718 hospitalizations for influenza. Older adults have been particularly impacted — with flu hospitalization rates more than doubling those of COVID-19 in February, according to state data.
Those flu infections can lead some patients to develop pneumonia. Connecticut hospitals continue to treat patients with the infection.
“It's been a pretty busy season for pneumonia,” said Dr. Mark Metersky, division chief of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the UConn School of Medicine. “The hospitals in the area are seeing a lot of cases.”
Pneumonia is a viral, bacterial or a fungal infection that affects one or both lungs, causing the air sacs of the lungs to fill up with fluid or pus, according to the National Institutes of Health.
While a flu infection can move from the upper airways – the nose, the sinuses, the air tubes – into the lung tissue, “it's actually pretty rare for influenza by itself to cause influenza pneumonia,” Metersky said.
“What is more common for people who get pneumonia after influenza is that the influenza damages the protective lining of the cells in the lung, and then bacteria can invade,” he explained. “So we'll often see patients who get influenza and then get bacterial pneumonia after the influenza.”
What you can do to stay safe
Some populations are at higher risk for pneumonia.
“The elderly and people with chronic diseases such as heart disease or lung disease such as COPD or emphysema, people with diabetes and even people who smoke,” he said.
Metersky urged people to get vaccinated.
“During the winter, when certain viruses are circulating, people who are exposed to those viruses and are not vaccinated are also at higher risk for pneumonia,” he said. “There's a pneumococcal vaccine, which some people call the pneumonia vaccine, which prevents a certain type of bacterial pneumonia, not all pneumonia.”
There is also a vaccine for RSV, which Metersky said high-risk patients should also get.
“And, of course, the common sense things of avoiding people who are sick with a virus, hand washing, masks, if appropriate,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends young children, older adults, and people at risk to get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia.
About one in five people in the U.S. who develop pneumonia will end up in the hospital, which means “about one in five it's a fairly serious infection, and about approximately 10% of people who end up admitted to the hospital will not survive that episode of pneumonia,” Metersky said.
Dr. Phil Roland, a physician in Connecticut for Cigna, urged people to make their health a priority while balancing commitments at work and home.
“They’re so busy that they can't come into the office or even take time for a virtual telehealth visit,” he said. “Many aren’t sure when they should take their symptoms seriously and which treatment options are available to them. When they put off care, they risk getting sicker.”
