Pneumonia affects an estimated four million Americans each year. Left untreated, it can lead to additional serious infections. When the immune system may be weakened by a viral infection such as influenza, bacterial pneumonia can occur at any time. Pneumonia symptoms may include chills and fevers as high as 105 degrees. Additionally, there may be chest pain and a cough that produces thick, dark or blood-tinged sputum.
Some people experience shortness of breath or a confused state.
The difference between influenza and pneumonia can be subtle, but other viral infections generally produce much milder disease. Sore, scatchy throat is noted in pneumonia, not the flu. Coughing that is moist with sputum or pus accompanies pneumonia while a dry cough comes with the flu. A fever is usual and may be high in pneumonia while in the flu it is low grade. Chills are usually persistent and intense in pneumonia patients, and in the flu chills may be intermittent as fever rises and subsides.