What are the symptoms of interstitial pneumonia? Are there any effective therapies? Can antibiotics be useful?
Interstitial pneumonia is that caused by the coronavirus, although it is actually typical of viral infections in general. It is called bilateral when it affects both lungs. It is often called Covid pneumonia, because there are many cases observed around the world.
Covid pneumonia: why does it happen?
The lungs, in addition to the bronchi, alveoli and blood vessels, have a dense connective tissue that has the task of supporting these structures. The medical term for this tissue is interstitium. The patient suffering from this type of pneumonia has severe inflammation, mainly caused by an excessive response of the immune system. In these cases this interstitial tissue increases considerably, making the possibility of gas exchanges decidedly more complicated. In practice, the ability to get oxygen into the body decreases.
What are the symptoms of Covid pneumonia?
The main symptom is the increased frequency of breathing. By getting less oxygen into the blood, the body tries to react in this way. In addition to the sense of shortness of breath, the other symptoms can be:
- irritating cough,
- fever above 38 °,
- fatigue,
- sense of weight in the chest,
- widespread pain especially in the rib cage area.
It can also happen that a lot of phlegm develops.
At least in half of the cases, in addition to pneumonia, there are taste and odor disturbances.
How is the diagnosis reached?
A symptom-aware visit, blood oxygenation measurement, and chest auscultation may already provide guidance. However, to be certain, the diagnosis needs to be confirmed by chest x-rays. To proceed with the best possible therapy, however, it is very useful to carry out a CT scan of the chest, especially to check if there is also apulmonary embolism. This is a fundamental step because the simultaneous presence of pneumonia and pulmonary embolism can significantly increase the danger of even fatal consequences, especially in elderly patients or in those who already have pre-existing diseases.
The people most at risk in developing this pneumonia are the elderly, those suffering from cardiovascular disease or kidney failure, diabetics, the obese.
What is the therapy for interstitial pneumonia?
For months now, doctors and scientists have been trying to find a specific drug that can help them fight interstitial pneumonia. Since Covid is a recent disease, there are still no medicines that can safely combat this disease.
Basically, patients take antipyretics to lower their fever and are given oxygen. If pulmonary embolism is also present, low molecular weight heparins are also administered. If there is also an underlying bacterial infection, antibiotics are also prescribed.
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