When we think of pneumonia, we see it as a complicated and
dangerous infection caused by bugs ‘in the air’. But there are a
number of disparate, but common, medications that can lead to
pneumonia, sometimes fatally. Going into hospital can cause it,
too. What is pneumonia? It’s an inflammation of the lungs that
we tend to hear little of these days as it’s lumped together
with things like tuberculosis and rickets - supposedly problems
of yesteryear. But, in fact, pneumonia is on the increase and,
in the UK, the number of deaths due to the disease has almost
doubled in less than a decade. Having pneumonia has been
described as being like having a cold or the flu, but far more
intense. The breathing problems caused by a cold are
uncomfortable and may even be incapacitating, but they won’t
kill you and will normally fade away on their own. Pneumonia, on
the other hand, can linger, worsen and, finally, interfere with
breathing to the point of being fatal. Most pneumonia occurs in
the winter, typically striking the