Lung Abscess Research
A lung abscess is an infection in the lung that develops into a pus filled condition that is surrounded by inflamed tissue. This is the result of bacteria received from the mouth or throat into the lung. Since even normal saliva has enough bacteria to cause an infection, this type of infection only occurs when the body's immune system is impaired such as when the body is unconscious or from an excess intake of alcohol or from a disease. The abscess will develop and later rupture that will leave a cavity filled with air and fluid and also leave a lot of sputum that needs to be eliminated by coughing it up.
Early symptoms of a lung abscess are loss of appetite, sweating, fever and coughing. The coughing brings up sputum with usually a bad smell and sometimes streaks of blood. As these same symptoms could indicate pneumonia, other tests need to be made. After diagnosis is confirmed, treatment begins with antibiotics orally or if necessary intravenously. It may take months of antibiotic treatment to clear up an abscess and some may not clear up. There are options for the doctor to use on ones that will not respond to antibiotics such as draining the abscess or in more severe cases surgical removal of the infected part and sometimes removal of an entire lung.
