Pneumonia's run thru family-contagious?

[cowboyup]

So, my niece (age 3), nephew (age 7) and my sister in law all have pneumonia.
They were all give chest x-rays and antibiotics.

Conflicting reports from 3 different doctors:
1 said it is highly contagious (ER doc)
1 said it was not (Urgent Care doc)
and the other one said perhaps but it's hard to tell if it is bacterial or viral (Pediatrician).

Hmmm...wonder which is most accurate?

We are all bundled in the same house and I HAVE NOT gotten it yet and I hope it stays that way!

 

[kihira]

Wouldn't pneumonia be a secondary thing caused by a cold or flu? So the flu would be contagious, but not the pneumonia as such?

 

[NathanielWingatePeaslee]

Wouldn't pneumonia be a secondary thing caused by a cold or flu? So the flu would be contagious, but not the pneumonia as such?

Correct. "Pneumonia" just means an infection in one or both lungs. The infection can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or in rare cases even a fungus. Sometimes it's caused by the same viruses that give people a cold or the flu.

Just how contagious it is depends mostly on what exactly caused it, which can be very difficult and expensive to determine and typically not worth finding out for sure unless it's life-threatening.

 

[cowboyup]

Wouldn't pneumonia be a secondary thing caused by a cold or flu? So the flu would be contagious, but not the pneumonia as such?

Well, that's what I was originally thinking as well. But since everyone has pneumonia except me, it made me wonder (and investigate - cuz we all know that everything you find online is TRUE....*sarcasm*) lol

And if anything, I was more 'exposed' to the kids' coughing in my face, one even came in my room and crawled into bed with me, and with the little one, I sat down my cereal and I didn't realize she had eaten some, and found out she did only after I finished it. So, technically, I ate after her during her full blown pneumonia.

I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful....
There, maybe I won't get it now

 

[cowboyup]

Correct. "Pneumonia" just means an infection in one or both lungs. The infection can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or in rare cases even a fungus. Sometimes it's caused by the same viruses that give people a cold or the flu.

Just how contagious it is depends mostly on what exactly caused it, which can be very difficult and expensive to determine and typically not worth finding out for sure unless it's life-threatening.

Yes, I read that on WebMD, that it can, in some rare cases, be fungal. I didn't know that before reading it. I think, WebMD is pretty OK site, lol

with 3 conflicting answers from 3 different doctors it tends to make one scratch their head. When we took the 3 year old in to the pediatrician, the dr said that it's quite rare to have both siblings with pneumonia, though not unheard of.

Perhaps my sis in law had a cold beforehand - or weaker immune system...who knows...at least everyone is on antibiotics here. And I plan to stay healthy!

 

[toowilling]

I think Pneumonia is contagious regardless if you are blood related or not. If you are exposed to people who are infected, then most likely, if your immune system is not working well, then you might get infected as well.