A public health nurse at La General Hospital in Accra, Madam Evangelina Adjei, has advised Ghanaians, both young and old, on the need to seek medical attention when they contract pneumonia.
She said this on “Apɔwmuden,” one of the flagships programme on Amansan Television (ATV), recently.
She was educating the public on pneumonia (Respiratory Tract Infection) which is an infection in one or both lungs.
She explained that “an infection can be caused by fungi, bacteria, or virus saying, “a lot of people come to hospital with this disease because there is no proper education on its causes and how it can be treated.”
She further explained that “we have what we called Community Pneumonia and with this type one can contract it when someone who has it breathes into the air or speaks, coughs, sneezes and the virus goes into the air and you also breath in at that moment and if your immune system is not strong you can get the disease.”
Citing an example, she said, if somebody happens to be in the same room with someone who has pneumonia, it is possible for that person to contract the disease.
According to her, pneumonia symptoms include nausea, vomiting, feeling very hot, diarrhea, fatigue and coughing up phlegm.
“Babies can also get pneumonia and you can detect it when you see that the child is coughing, vomiting, restlessness, and sometimes behaving abnormal and as a mother you don’t have to sit down but rather take your baby to the hospital.”
She added that “if you don’t go to hospital when you see all these symptoms it can lead to surgery.”
To end this, she advised that whoever at a point in time would find himself or herself with any of these symptoms should quickly see a doctor so as to prevent any fatality.
“You can also go in for vaccination to prevent contracting it,” she advised.
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