Pneumonia is a disease of the lungs, specifically when the air passages of the lungs are infected by certain germs. People with pneumonia find it difficult to breath. If left untreated, pneumonia can claim a human life in three to four days. Like malaria, pneumonia attacks mostly children below the age of five. Among adults, pneumonia is one of the leading causes of death among the elderly and among people who are chronically ill.

There are several ways that a young child can get pneumonia, foremost of which is if he has not been vaccinated, especially against whooping cough and measles. A child can also get pneumonia if his mother does not breast-feed him during his first six months or if he is raised in a dirty environment. Small children get pneumonia in crowded places where they breathe in dust or smoke, or where people with lung infections congregate – where they sneeze or cough without covering their mouths, or where they spit on the ground. During periods of cold weather, a child can get pneumonia if he is not kept warm. Among adults, pneumonia may occur because of chemical or physical injuries to the lungs or through another medical illness, such as lung cancer or alcohol abuse.

The World Health Organization spearheads a worldwide information campaign that seeks to educate parents and children alike about the dangers of pneumonia and the steps that can be taken to prevent it. Among the WHO's preventive measures are the following: Ensure that children receive all their vaccinations, especially against measles and whooping cough. Make sure that mother and child are always clean. Constantly breast-feed the child through his first six months. After the sixth month and in addition to breast milk, also feed the child with milk, cereals, vegetables, beans, fish, meat, egg, fresh fruit juices and other nutrient-rich and energy-rich foods. Keep children warm when the weather is cold. Minimize his exposure to smoke or dust as well as crowds, especially where there may be people infected with pneumonia. Teach children to cover their mouth and nose when they cough and sneeze and to refrain from spitting on the ground.

The most common signs that a child has contracted pneumonia are fever, fast breathing, coughing, chest pains, a runny nose, loss of appetite, fatigue, blueness of the skin, nausea, vomiting, joint pains or muscle aches and difficulty when breathing. A cough that produces greenish or yellow sputum and a high fever accompanied by shaking chills is a strong sign of infectious pneumonia.

The less common forms of pneumonia cause different symptoms. Pneumonia caused by Legionella may cause abdominal pain and diarrhea, while pneumonia caused by tuberculosis or Pneumocystis may cause only weight loss and night sweats. In elderly people, pneumonia's symptoms may reveal itself as a state of confusion or unsteadiness while walking.

For the most part, pneumonia can be treated at home through oral antibiotics, fluids and plenty of rest. If this fails to cure the patient or if complications occur, then hospitalization cannot be avoided. Antibiotics are effective only in treating bacterial pneumonia but not against viral pneumonia.

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial pneumonia but they are not useful against viral pneumonia. The choice of antibiotic would depend on the nature and causes of the pneumonia, its geographic location and the patient's health and immune conditon. In the United Kingdom, amoxicillin is the antibiotic selected for most patients with community-acquired pneumonia. In the United States, azithromycin, clarithromycin and fluoroquinolones are the antibiotics of choice. The choice of antibiotics varies because of regional differences in most pneumonia-causing microorganisms and in their abilities to resist various antibiotic treatments. Treatment usually lasts from seven to 10 days.