Pneumonia is a respiratory disease characterized by acute inflammation of the alveoli and/or interstitial spaces of the lungs, induced by different causes that are not always easy to identify.
Inflammation can develop in a circumscribed, well-defined area of only one lung (in this case, it is called “lobar”), or it can spread to smaller, more diffuse areas in both lungs and the ends of the bronchi (in this case, it is classic bronchopneumonia).
Pneumonia can be induced by infectious agents or by accidental inhalation of food, liquids, dust, fumes or allergic factors. Physiological or pathological conditions involving persistent obstruction of the bronchi, while not the underlying cause, can also promote the inflammatory process underlying pneumonia.
Depending on the place where it is contracted and the characteristics of those affected, infectious pneumonia is classified as “hospital-acquired” (nosocomial pneumonia), “community-acquired” (i.e., anywhere other than inpatient institutions, residences for the elderly, etc.) or pneumonia “acquired from immunocompromised individuals.”
