Pneumonia: symptoms, tests, treatment and danger signs
What pneumonia is, the symptoms in adults and the danger signs in children, how it is diagnosed and treated, and how vaccines help prevent it.
Also known as: Bronchopneumonia; Walking Pneumonia
What pneumonia is
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs in which the tiny air sacs fill with fluid and pus, making it harder for oxygen to pass into the blood. It can affect a small part of one lung or large areas of both.
Bacteria are the commonest cause in adults, with Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) the most frequent. Viruses, including influenza, RSV and the COVID-19 virus, also cause pneumonia, particularly in young children, and fungi cause it mainly in people with weak immunity. Most pneumonia is caught in the community; pneumonia that starts in hospital, or after inhaling food or vomit, is treated differently.
Many people recover at home with treatment, but pneumonia can be serious, especially in young children, older adults and people with other illnesses. It remains a leading cause of death in children under five worldwide.
Symptoms
In adults, symptoms usually build over a day or a few days:
- Fever, chills or shivering
- Cough with phlegm, which may be yellow, green or blood-streaked
- Breathlessness, or fast breathing
- Chest pain that is sharp and worse on breathing in or coughing
- Tiredness, loss of appetite, muscle aches
- Confusion, drowsiness or a fall — sometimes the only sign in older people
In babies and young children, look for fast breathing, the skin pulling in below the ribs with each breath (chest indrawing), grunting, poor feeding, and unusual sleepiness. Fever may be absent in very young infants.
Who is at higher risk in India
- Children under two and adults over sixty-five
- Smokers, and people exposed to smoke from cooking on wood or dung fires
- People with COPD, asthma, heart failure, diabetes, kidney or liver disease
- People with weakened immunity, including those with HIV or on long-term steroids
- Undernourished children, and babies who are not breastfed
- People who have trouble swallowing, such as after a stroke
- Anyone recovering from influenza or another viral infection
In India, tuberculosis can look very like pneumonia. A cough that does not settle with treatment, or that comes with weight loss and night sweats, should be tested for TB.
How it is diagnosed
Pneumonia is suspected from your symptoms and from listening to your chest. Tests confirm it, judge severity and guide treatment:
- Chest X-ray — shows the area of infection and complications such as fluid around the lung.
- Pulse oximetry — a finger clip that measures blood oxygen, an important sign of how unwell you are.
- Blood tests — a blood count, markers of inflammation, kidney function and sometimes blood cultures.
- Sputum test — to identify the germ and look for TB, especially if you are admitted or not improving.
Doctors also check your breathing rate, blood pressure, pulse and mental alertness, and use simple scoring systems to decide whether you can be treated at home or need hospital care.
Which doctor to see
Most adults with pneumonia are first seen by a general physician, and children by a paediatrician. A pulmonologist is involved for severe pneumonia, pneumonia that keeps returning or is slow to clear, complications such as fluid or pus around the lung, or when TB or another lung disease is possible.
You can find pulmonologists in Bengaluru, general physicians in Bengaluru or paediatricians in Bengaluru on The Doctor Index, each with a registration you can check.
Treatment
Antibiotics are the main treatment for bacterial pneumonia, chosen according to your age, severity, other illnesses and local patterns of resistance. Take the full course as prescribed, even when you feel better, and do not use leftover antibiotics or buy them without a prescription. Viral pneumonia does not respond to antibiotics, although doctors often give them when a bacterial cause cannot be ruled out, and antiviral medicines are used for influenza in some cases.
At home, fluids and rest help recovery. Paracetamol can ease fever and pain; ask your doctor which painkiller suits you. Cough syrups that suppress the cough are generally not recommended, because coughing helps clear the lungs.
Hospital care is needed for people with low oxygen, fast breathing, confusion, low blood pressure, or who cannot eat and drink, and for many young infants. There, oxygen, antibiotics through a drip and fluids can be given, and complications treated. A small number need intensive care.
Expect fever to settle within a few days of treatment, but cough and tiredness can last for weeks. If you are not improving after a couple of days of antibiotics, contact your doctor. Older adults and smokers are often advised a follow-up chest X-ray some weeks later to make sure the lung has cleared.
Prevention
- Vaccination — India's Universal Immunisation Programme includes pneumococcal, pentavalent (which covers Hib and whooping cough) and measles-rubella vaccines, free at government health centres. These protect against important causes of pneumonia in children. Adults over sixty-five and people with long-term illnesses should ask about pneumococcal and yearly influenza vaccines.
- Stop smoking and keep children away from tobacco and cooking smoke
- Breastfeed babies, ideally exclusively for the first six months
- Wash hands regularly, and cover coughs and sneezes
- Keep diabetes and other long-term conditions well controlled
When it is an emergency
Call 112 or 108, or go to the nearest emergency department, for:
- Severe breathlessness, or difficulty speaking in full sentences
- Blue or grey lips, face or fingertips
- New confusion, drowsiness or collapse
- Chest pain with a racing heart or very low blood pressure
- In a child: chest indrawing, grunting, inability to drink or breastfeed, fits, or unusual sleepiness
Questions to ask at your appointment
- How severe is my pneumonia, and is it safe to be treated at home?
- What is the likely cause, and which antibiotic am I taking?
- When should I expect to feel better, and what should make me come back?
- Should I be tested for TB?
- Do I need a follow-up X-ray?
- Which vaccines should I or my child have?
Common questions
Questions people ask
- Is pneumonia contagious?
- The germs that cause pneumonia can spread through coughs and sneezes, but most people exposed to them do not develop pneumonia. Covering coughs, washing hands and staying away from vulnerable people while you are unwell all reduce the spread.
- How long does it take to recover from pneumonia?
- Fever usually settles within a few days of treatment. Cough, tiredness and breathlessness can take several weeks to clear, longer in older people. Return to work and exercise gradually, and see your doctor if you stop improving.
- What is 'walking pneumonia'?
- It is an informal term for a mild pneumonia in which people feel unwell but not ill enough to stay in bed. It is often caused by bacteria such as Mycoplasma. It still needs a doctor's assessment and often antibiotics.
- Can adults get a pneumonia vaccine?
- Yes. Pneumococcal vaccines are recommended for older adults and for people with conditions such as diabetes, heart, lung, kidney or liver disease, or weak immunity. A yearly influenza vaccine also lowers the risk. Your doctor can advise which you need.
This condition is usually assessed by a pulmonologist. Every profile shows the doctor’s registration and what has been checked.
Pulmonologists in Bangalore
A few pulmonologists listed on The Doctor Index. They are shown because of their speciality, not a stated interest in Pneumonia; ask the clinic whether the doctor sees it.
Related conditions
- Cellulitis
- Chickenpox
- Chikungunya
- Cholera
- Common Cold
- COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019)
- Dengue
- Diphtheria
All infectious diseases conditions →
Practical reading
All postsSources
- MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine — Pneumonia
- World Health Organization — Pneumonia in children fact sheet
- Press Information Bureau, MoHFW — Celebrating the Power of Vaccines (Universal Immunisation Programme schedule)
- MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine — Pneumonia — Public-domain health-topic summary
Pneumonia: symptoms, tests, treatment and danger signs is original text by The Doctor Index; the compiled source draft was used for research. Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999; July 2026 data, CC BY 4.0. This product uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (hp/releases/2026-09-01). Only sources listed for this article apply. Source material has been selected and arranged; HPO definitions are reproduced without alteration. No source organisation endorses this compilation. Köhler S et al. The Human Phenotype Ontology project: linking molecular biology and disease through phenotype data. Nucleic Acids Research 2014;42(D1):D966–D974. doi:10.1093/nar/gkt1026.
General information, not advice about your situation. Errors can be reported through the corrections process. Reference TDI-C-1878.