Pneumonic plague

Pneumonic plague
Pneumonic plague
	A scanning electron micrograph depicting a mass of Yersinia pestis bacteria
Specialty	Infectious disease
Symptoms	Fever, headache, shortness of breath, cough, hemoptysis
Usual onset	3 to 7 days
Causes	Yersinia pestis
Risk factors	Rodents
Diagnostic method	Sputum testing
Treatment	Antibiotics
Prognosis	A case-fatality ratio of 30% to 60% for the bubonic type, and invariably fatal for the pneumonic kind when left untreated.
Frequency	Rare

Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.^[3] Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing.^[1] They typically start about three to seven days after exposure.^[2] It is one of three forms of plague, the other two being septicemic plague and bubonic plague.^[3]

The pneumonic form may occur following an initial bubonic or septicemic plague infection.^[3] It may also result from breathing in airborne droplets from another person or animal infected with pneumonic plague.^[1] The difference between the forms of plague is the location of infection; in pneumonic plague the infection is in the lungs, in bubonic plague the lymph nodes, and in septicemic plague within the blood.^[3] Diagnosis is by testing the blood, sputum, or fluid from a lymph node.^[1]

While vaccines are being developed, in most countries they are not yet commercially available.^[1]^[3] Prevention is by avoiding contact with infected rodents, people, or cats.^[1]^[3] It is recommended that those infected be isolated from others.^[2] Treatment of pneumonic plague is with antibiotics.^[1]

Plague is present among rodents in Africa, the Americas, and Asia.^[3] Pneumonic plague is more serious and less common than bubonic plague.^[1] The total reported number of cases of all types of plague in 2013 was 783.^[2] Left untreated, pneumonic plague is always fatal.^[3] Some hypothesize that the pneumonic version of the plague was mainly responsible for the Black Death that resulted in approximately 75 - 200 million deaths in the 1300s.^[2]^[5]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "FAQ Plague". www.cdc.gov. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Plague". World Health Organization. September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Plague". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
^ who, who. "plague". who.int. WHO. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
^ McCoy, Terrence (31 March 2014). "Everything you know about the Black Death is wrong". Washington Post. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.

[CDC2015-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "FAQ Plague". www.cdc.gov. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.

[WHO2016Fact-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Plague". World Health Organization. September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.

[WHO2017-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Plague". www.who.int. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.

[4] who, who. "plague". who.int. WHO. Retrieved 23 June 2022.

[5] McCoy, Terrence (31 March 2014). "Everything you know about the Black Death is wrong". Washington Post. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.

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