On Thursday, my wife’s cousin who is in his late forties was cutting grass then went in to take a shower. He came out of the bathroom and told his dad to take him to the hospital because he was having really bad chest pain. On the way to the hospital he slumped over onto his dad and they say he stopped breathing. Once at the hospital he coded three times and they said he had a massive heart attack. They put some stints in and he is now alert and talking but has pneumonia. Why does a person get pneumonia like that just laying in a hospital bed for a few days?

Hospitals are the #1 location of Staph andd MERS

Lungs will become congested very quickly with heart/circulatory system in a reduced state. He was already likely to have lung issues before the heart attack. (given he had existing heart trouble that had been going on silently, for a while.)

And the body's immune system kicking into high gear due to crisis adds to respiratory issues.
And being on your back for days.

From not moving, coughing and keeping clear his airways. And not breathing as deep as normal. And not taking sighs. The normal mucus accumulates in gravity dependent areas. That’s why they make you deep breathe and cough. And use an Incentive Spirometer.
Of course germs are everywhere there too. But he may not have been there long enough to grow a bug.

A bank robber was once asked why he robbed banks. He responded, "that's where the money is'.

If you want a disease, the hospital is the place to go.

Still, everything in your system is taxed when undergoing such trauma.

Sorry to hear about your extended family. I hope he will be ok.

H&K-Guy

Sorry to read this, and trust there is a full recovery.

I am not in any way a qualified medical worker, physician or health care worker.

If he was on a respirator, that's one source.
Dry air, dry membranes, more susceptible.

As there may have been an allergic reaction to grass seed, pollen, from the mowing, he may have a weak immune system.

And lastly, hospital workers can spread the pneumonia from their hands, clothes or even instruments.

The above is what I learned from my step-son having a similar incident.

In addition to life threatening peanut anaphylaxis (carries epipens), we add grass seed and pollen to that list.

He was looking forward to be the mower man in the family.

Whoa, techguy...he's lucky his dad was there to take him in! Hope your cousin-in-law recovers soon...

Another explanation that comes to my mind because I have been involved in many codes.... It's called aspiration pneumonia. When a person becomes unconscious, they lose their ability to protect their airway ( lungs) from foreign materials...in this case , puke. If someone is receiving CPR , they are receiving large pressures on their chest. It's that pressure that moves the blood during CPR. It also predisposes people to empty their stomach , vomit.

In a conscious person ( even a sleeping person) , when you vomit, you cough , gag, turn to your side and spit , etc ....all of these actions protect your airway ( lungs). When you are unconscious and vomit , you are likely to get at least some of the stomach contents and stomach acid in your lungs. This is very irritating to the lungs. This is called aspiration pneumonia.....it's one of the reasons that they frequently insert a breathing tube in a person's windpipe as soon as they can.

Best wishes....mike ( anesthetist )

Hospital acquired pneumonia is a serious complication during a hospital stay, and one of the most common nosocomial (hospital acquired) infections, but treatable, especially in somone his age. One of the unfortunate risks of hospitalization, because, as someone mentioned, that's where the bugs are. Generally caused by aspiration of oral bacteria, and treatment usually consists of heavy duty antibiotics for several days, sometimes combined with mechanical ventilation. Wishing him well, and hopefully a full recovery (heart and lungs)....

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
Hospitals are the #1 location of Staph andd MERS

And C. Diff

No insight, just hope that he makes a full recovery.

Mike28w is right, aspiration pneumonia is likely any time someone has a cardiac arrest—inhaling stomach contents.