Pneumonia treatment can usually be taken care of in the comfort of your own home on an out patient basis. The elderly and those with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to complications which will lead to a stay in the hospital and inpatient treatment. Early diagnosis is important to a strong recovery. Research shows that the shorter the time between diagnosis and beginning of treatment the better your prognosis is.
Your first reaction may be to ask your doctor to subscribe antibiotics. A Pneumonia treatment of antibiotics may or may not help you. This is because Pneumonia can be caused by both viruses and bacteria. Antibiotics do not work against viruses, only bacteria. Research however shows that Pneumonia treatment with antibiotics in hospitalized patients reduced the mortality rate. Cough medicine may be necessary to quell coughing. In extreme cases when patients are having trouble breathing medications known for their effectiveness against the symptoms of asthma, such as Albuterol may be indicated.
If your doctor in involved with your Pneumonia treatment they will first evaluate you to make their decision on in patient or out patient care. One of the tools a doctor uses to make this important decision is the PSI (Pneumonia Severity Index). This index divides patients into risk classes based of the scores of up to twenty variables. Those patients with risk levels I, II and III were given their Pneumonia treatment as out patients.
Another index that provides guidance for Pneumonia treatment is the CURB-65 or the CRB-65. This index is supposedly more user friendly as it only requires information on five variables. Indexes provide guidelines for health practitioners but are no substitution for a physician's advice.