Pneumonia is a disease that caused a large number of deaths before antibiotics were invented. Ever since then it can be treated by taking a few pills that were prescribed by the doctor. But it still causes problems to many people and a lot of patients are diagnosed with pneumonia every year. That is because it's pretty hard to prevent it. In order to try to avoid it you need to understand what causes it.

Well pneumonia occurs when the tissue inside one or both lungs gets infected with a virus, bacteria, or another parasite. The problem is that the viruses or bacteria that cause pneumonia are in the air we breathe, so avoiding them is pretty hard to do since you can't see them. They can even be found in your food or in what you are drinking.

When a person has pneumonia, he/she starts coughing and sneezing a lot. Whenever he/she coughs or sneezes a large number of the pneumonia causing viruses are spread into the air, so either try to cover your mouth and not breathe that air directly, either ask that person to cover his/her mouth when sneezing and coughing.

There are many germs that cause pneumonia, but the ones that were most encountered by doctors in pneumonia cases are some bacteria called streptococcus pneumonia, staphilococcus, and haemophilus.

You can get infected with the pneumonia germs while doing your daily routine, at work, while shopping or at school. The risk increases if you are in a hospital because the ventilation system there can spread the virus from a patient into the whole hospital.

Also, if you breathe something that can irritate your lungs like smoke or certain chemicals and poisons you are at risk.

The risk factors increase for those that are over 60 years of age, smoke and drink alcohol, use drugs, and especially for those with a weak defense system. If pneumonia affects someone that already has another disease that has weakened his/her defense system then if it's not treated in short time it can be fatal.

Since you can acquire pneumonia while performing daily activities it's pretty hard to prevent it, but you can stay away from ill people and check a doctor if you notice that your cough can't be cured by the normal medication. If the illness is discovered in an early stage it can be cured very easily and you won't even have to spend time at home resting.