If you have a cold, then you should drink plenty of fluids and get some rest. And, you most likely will not need to seek treatment from your physician. However, some people will develop pneumonia and this does require treatment. Keep reading to learn about some signs that you may actually have pneumonia and should seek out assistance at a local medical clinic.

Sudden Fever

Most people will not have a fever when they have a cold. While children sometimes do, it rarely reaches over a 100 or 101 degrees Fahrenheit. This slight fever will typically only last a few days before passing. 

However, if you discover that you are developing a fever with cold-like symptoms, then it may be pneumonia. The most common scenario occurs where you have a cold and start to get better and then suddenly star to feel worse again. When you start feeling more sick, you will suddenly have a low-grade fever, when you did not experience one with the onset of your sickness.

This type of scenario is what happens when you develop pneumonia as a secondary infection. This is a bacterial pneumonia infection. The bacteria that cause the illness are able to take hold due to your lowered defenses and stressed immune system. So, you basically have a cold and pneumonia at the same time. And while it may just seem that you have become reinfected with your cold, this may not be the case and you should be tested for pneumonia.

Your Cough Gets Worse

When you become infected with a virus, your body will start producing a great deal of mucus. The mucus traps the virus and when you cough, sneeze, or blow your nose, the virus is expelled from the body. This helps to control the illness and keep viral reproduction controlled until the other immune cells can attack the virus.

Your body will naturally reduce its mucus production once the virus has been controlled. It can take five or more days for this to happen. And, if you start noticing that mucus production is increasing over time, then you may have pneumonia.

With pneumonia, your body may not be able to defend itself from the bacteria. As the microorganisms take hold of the tissues within your lungs, they start to swell. This causes fluid to build up and you will end up coughing up this fluid along with the mucus that is being produced. As the infection spreads, inflammation becomes more pronounced and the coughing will worsen. 

Pneumonia and the inflammation within the lungs can make it difficult to breathe. So, if you notice that coughing is increasing in intensity, you should seek help as soon as possible from a full-service medical clinic.