Pneumonia is a lung infection that is often caused by infections of the upper respiratory tract, in the nose and throat, which may be contagious.
Pneumonia can occur in anyone, and at any age. The disease is at risk in infants under 2 years of age, and older persons over 65 years of age.
How To Prevent Pneumonia
Do not worry, because pneumonia can be prevented. Reduce the risk of pneumonia by following these simple steps.
Vaccination
Vaccinate the flu every year to prevent seasonal flu. Flu is a common cause of pneumonia, so preventing the flu is the way to prevent it.
Children under the age of 5 and older persons over 65 must have the pneumonia vaccine.
There are several other vaccines that can prevent infection by bacteria and viruses that can cause pneumonia, including the pertussis vaccine (whooping cough), chicken pox and measles.
Maintaining endurance
The next tips – How To Prevent Pneumonia is by maintaining endurance.
This can be done by living a healthy lifestyle, such as adequate rest, eating nutritious foods, and regular exercise.
Keeping the immune system in top condition is one of the efforts to prevent infection of germs.
So, you need to build healthy living habits of consuming intake with healthy and balanced nutrition, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly.
Maintaining cleanliness
The simplest example of maintaining cleanliness is diligent hand washing. Make it a habit to wash your hands with water and soap or with a hand sanitizer, and do not touch the face with unwashed hands.
Avoid exposure to pollutants
Exposure to air pollution can damage and accelerate the aging of lung organs.
When the physical condition is young and strong, the lungs are easily able to fight pollutant toxins.
However, with age, these vital organs lose resistance and are more susceptible to infections and diseases.
As much as possible, minimize exposure to cigarette smoke, exhaust gases of motor vehicles, to synthetic air fresheners, and scented candles containing chemicals.
No smo**king
Smo**king habits and exposure to cigarette smoke can make the lungs damaged and more susceptible to infection.
Do not consume alco**holic beverages
The habit of consuming alco**hol or alco**hol addiction can also cause a decrease in endurance, making the body more susceptible to infectious diseases, including pneumonia.
Know and Be Aware of Pneumonia Symptoms in Parents
For young people, symptoms of pneumonia are generally a severe cough, fever and chills. However, parents may not show the same symptoms, according to the Infectious Disease Clinics of North America.
So, stay alert to symptoms that may differ from the symptoms of pneumonia in general, such as a weak body, confusion, delirium, even regular dizziness.
How To Prevent Pneumonia in Babies
As we know, immunization is one way to increase immunity against viruses and bacterial attacks. The other functions are as follows:
- Provide self-protection for the recipient
- Forming immunity
- Cross-group protection
- Reduce pain, disability and death from diseases that can be prevented by immunization (PD3I) including pneumonia.
Until now, it has been known that the impact of immunization on infant and toddler mortality is 55.2%, including by pneumonia as much as 23.8%, and diarrhea 31.4%. The figures show a significant decrease in infant and toddler deaths.
There are two pneumonia vaccines that can be given to prevent pneumonia infection, namely as follows:
- DPT-HB-Hib Immunization: This vaccine prevents pneumonia caused by haemophilus influenzae type B. Administered at the age of 2, 3, 4 months (basic immunization) and at 18 months (advanced immunization).
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV): Prevents pneumonia caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Given at the age of 2.3 and 12 months.
Because immunization is proven to lower the risk of preventable diseases such as pneumonia, so every parent is advised to pay attention to the schedule of immunization above as an effective prevention.
In addition to immunization, another thing that can prevent pneumonia is to provide exclusive breast milk, adequate nutrition well, avoid pollution, and vitamin A administration is also good to prevent pneumonia.
Thank you very much for reading How To Prevent Pneumonia in Babies, Productive Age, and Elderly, hopefully useful.
