Lobar Pneumonia

General Information

Description:

In pneumonia, inflammation (irritation, swelling) or infection of the lungs causes fluid and pus to fill a section (lobar) or form patches in both lungs (bronchial), interfering with the uptake of oxygen.

Lung pneumonia from streptococcus bacteria affects one or more lobes of the lung; commonly due to streptococcal infection.

This is an infection in the lungs caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumonia, also called pneumococcus, can infect the upper respiratory tracts of adults and children and can spread to the blood, lungs, middle ear, or nervous system. CDC estimates pneumococcal pneumonia causes 40,000 deaths and 500,000 cases of pneumonia annually in the United States.

Causes:

Pneumonia is usually triggered when a patient's defense system is weakened, most often by a simple viral upper respiratory tract infection or a case of influenza.

The usual cause of pneumonia is a virus or bacteria. However, some types of fungi and parasites can also cause it. Pneumonia can also be caused by breathing in chemical fumes.

The Top Ten Symptoms:

Cough

High fever

Headache

Chest pains

Muscle aches

Nausea

Rapid breathing

Shortness of breath

Tiredness

Vomiting

1920-1929

Frequency: Allegheny County Coroner Case Files 1924-1926

The files show that the majorities of the deaths from lobar pneumonia are either children (0-10 years) or adults (45 years and older). Also some of the finds show that the onset of lobar pneumonia occur when immune system was weaken due to a fracture bone and the infection set in to the lobes of the lung.

While Lobar Pneumonia is not a particularly interesting death, I wanted to go into more detail on this case because of the condition of the boy it concerns. This 10 year old boy lived at Thorn Hill School and his file includes his Juvenile Court record which explains why he was at the school. It includes information on his family but there are also questions such as;

Is boy retarded? (yes)

Has boy been immoral with boys or men? (Report of Supt. of Detention Home shows boy has bad moral habits.)

And Health conditions of family: (Father apparently mentally unbalanced)

These questions, and their corresponding answers, were enough to interest me in the Thorn Hill School. I found a book on the Historic Pittsburgh website that helped me a great deal.

http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=pitttext&cc=pitttext&idno=00agd3011m&q1=Thorn+Hill+School&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=30