Pneumonia pathophysiology

Editor(s)-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [mailto:mgibson@perfuse.org] Phone:617-632-7753; Philip Marcus, M.D., M.P.H.[mailto:pmarcus192@aol.com]

Pathophysiology
The symptoms of infectious pneumonia are caused by the invasion of the lungs by microorganisms and by the immune system's response to the infection. Although more than one hundred strains of microorganism can cause pneumonia, only a few are responsible for most cases. The most common causes of pneumonia are viruses and bacteria. Less common causes of infectious pneumonia are fungi and parasites. The detailed pathophysiology regarding each of these etiologic organisms has been detailed under the respective chapters.