Introduction Pneumonia is infectivity habitually caused by fungi, bacteria or viruses and affects either one lung or both. Once it attacks a person, it causes swelling of the parenchyma-alveoli of the lung. Additionally, it causes fluid inflow to the alveolar sacs hence, exudation and consolidation of the respiratory system. Statistics reveal that before the invention of antibiotics, over 30 percent of infected people died of the infection. As of now, there are approximately three million people suffering from pneumonia in the United States alone. The prognosis of pneumonia relies on the nature of pneumonia, a person’s causal fitness, and the cure involved (Hoare &Wei, 2006, p. 1077). How People Catch Pneumonia In most cases, people catch pneumonia through breathing in some globules of contaminated air. Consequently, if a healthy person exposes to the contaminated air and inhales it, then infection occurs. On the other hand, the microorganisms usually present in the mouth, throat or nose can enter the lung(s) by mistake and lead to pneumonia infection. Research shows that when persons are slumbering, the mouth, nose and throat aspirate secretions. Thus, due to reflex responses, healthy persons cannot catch pneumonia as their immune system thwarts any aspiration of microorganisms from entering the lung(s) hence, reducing the chances of developing pneumonia. However, persons suffering from other diseases can have a weak immune system that can allow aspiration of pneumonia into the lungs leading to severe pneumonia attack. The vast majority of people who are at great risk of catching pneumonia include those recently infected by a virus, lung or heart ailments, and individuals with swallowing difficulties. Others include alcohol consumers, drug users and persons who regularly experience stroke or seizure. Older people are at high risk of catching pneumonia simply because of the weakened immune system and enhanced swallowing problems. Moreover, older persons have unimpressive medication side effects, which increase the chances of catching pneumonia. Catching pneumonia simply means organisms finding their way into the lung(s). Consequently, they inhabit the region around the air sacs and lung passages. Here, the organisms swiftly increase in number and causes the area to block up with inflammatory cells (pus). At this stage, the body will start fighting back the infection (Metlay, Kapoor & Fine, 1997, pp. 1440-1445). Signs and Symptoms of Pneumonia The signs and symptoms of pneumonia vary from one person to another. In most cases, pneumonia begins with upper respiratory infection characterized by sneezing, coughing and a sore throat. Later on, patients develop a very high fever, shuddering chills, and a severe cough normally accompanied by sputum. In order to differentiate pneumonia from similar infections, the sputum produced because of pneumonia invasion appears discolored and contains blood droplets. Additional symptoms can develop depending on where the organisms are affected most. For instance, if severe infection occurs at the air passages, then a person will experience persistent coughing and more sputum production. On the other hand, if infection occurs on the sp