Although pneumonia is a common disease, for the vast majority of people, the understanding is very shallow, even narrow. Therefore, I often hear people say things like “How can I die in the hospital because I have pneumonia? It must be medical malpractice!” and other very ridiculous words. I am here to tell you, with considerable professionalism, that pneumonia is the number one direct cause of death among hospitalized patients! To give you some simple examples, nowadays there is a high incidence of cardiovascular disease and a large number of deaths, such as strokes, more than 80 percent of stroke patients die not from the stroke itself, but from lung infection – pneumonia! Nearly 50% of patients who die after surgery, for example, also die from the complication of a lung infection. One of the most visual examples, according to the World Health Organization, is that in 2002-2003 SARS (atypical pneumonia caused by a coronavirus) infected 8422 cases worldwide and killed 919 people, with a mortality rate of nearly 11%. In addition, pneumonia is the number one cause of death in children. Pneumonia, is an inflammation of the terminal airways, alveoli and interstitial lungs. The mortality rate of pneumonia is directly related to the type and risk factors of pneumonia, its severity, and early or late therapeutic intervention, especially in severe pneumonia, where the mortality rate is between 22% and 54%. Therefore, it is particularly important to determine how early the severity of pneumonia is determined. There are some clinical methods of pneumonia disease assessment, such as PSI and CURB-65, which are more specialized. However, we can generally make preliminary judgments mainly from the following aspects: Chest radiograph: One of the direct diagnostic bases for pneumonia is imaging, which is commonly seen in chest radiographs. If there are multiple lobes or widespread pneumonia, it is more likely that the inflammation is more severe or the infection is more complex and should be taken seriously. Blood: Blood analysis is the most common test when visiting a hospital. The blood image can be used to initially determine the degree and type of inflammatory infection. Bacterial infections are mostly associated with elevated blood picture (white blood cell count) and leftward nuclear shift, and the higher the blood picture, the more severe the infection to some extent. In contrast, viral and other atypical pathogenic infections tend to have a low or low blood count, with the potential for progression to severe pneumonia. Temperature: Common bacterial pneumonia is characterized by chills, fever, and sometimes a persistent high fever. However, a higher temperature does not mean that the disease is more severe. On the contrary, a low temperature or a temperature that does not rise is very likely to indicate severe pneumonia and must be treated in a timely manner by a hospital. Age: Age plays a very important role in the development of pneumonia. Some regional data indicate that pneumonia is the first cause of death in people over 80 years of age. The older you are, the lower your immunity, the less inflammation can be controlled, and the older you are, the less typical the clinical presentation of pneumonia is and the easier it is to ignore. Blood pressure: Normal blood pressure is necessary to maintain normal blood flow to the body’s organs. When pulmonary infection is not controlled, it is likely to cause infectious shock, a drop in blood pressure, and possibly even sepsis and septicemia. Respiratory rate: Pneumonia is primarily an inflammation of the lungs, which are an important organ in respiratory function. When the lungs are significantly damaged, respiratory function can become impaired, affecting the supply of oxygen and the elimination of carbon dioxide from the body, which, through a feedback mechanism, affects changes in respiratory rate. The condition can be very dangerous when the respiratory rate is very fast (by more than 30 breaths/min) or becomes shallow and slow (<12 breaths/min). Underlying diseases: Disease onset and progression are interrelated and interact with each other. In particular, some chronic diseases have a significant impact on the regression of pulmonary inflammation. For example, diabetes, lupus erythematosus, etc., due to the presence of these underlying diseases, changes in the internal environment of the organism and the decline in immunity, inflammation is easily spread and progresses, making it tricky to treat and likely to transform into severe pneumonia, which must be given special attention.