Saturday Morning With Jack Tame

Pope Francis has spent a month in hospital, struggling with bilateral pneumonia – but what exactly is this infection?    What is pneumonia?   It’s a serious infection of the lungs.   Bacteria and virus (or even a fungus) lodge themselves down in the lungs and cause an infection.   It’s often at the base of one or both lungs.   The body reacts to the bacteria or virus, causing a reaction to get rid of the infection, resulting in inflamed lung tissue with fluid or pus.       What are the causes and how do we know we have pneumonia?   There are two basic types: community acquired, and hospital acquired (hospitals are dangerous places for infections!).  Risk factors: a weakened immune system, which could be a result of age, a chronic illness like diabetes, asthma, some medications, smoking, or admittance to a hospital.   Viruses such as influenza, Covid, and RSV can cause pneumonia, which is why they are dangerous.   Main symptoms (can be sudden