Veterinary Clinical Medicine-I (General and Systemic)

PNEUMONIA-TREATMENT

• In specific infection, isolation of affected animals and careful surveillance of the remainder of the group to detect cases on the early stages should accompany the administration of the specific antibacterial drugs or biological preparations to affected animals.
• The choice of antibacterial agents will depend on the tentative diagnosis, the experience with drugs in previous cases and the results of the drug sensitivity tests.
• The common bacterial pneumonia of all species will usually recover quickly (24 hr.) if treated with an adequate dose of the drug of choice early in the course of the disease.
• Animals with severe pneumonia will require daily treatment for the several days until recovery occurs.
• Those with bacterial pneumonia and toxemia must be treated early on an individual basis. Each case should be identified and carefully monitored for failure to recover.
• Antimicrobial agents in a long acting base may be used to provide therapy over a 4-6 day period instead of the daily administration of the shorter-acting preparations. However, the blood level from the long-acting preparations are not as high as the shorter-acting preparations and may not be as effective in severely affected animals.
• There is no specific treatment for the viral pneumonia because viral and mycoplasmal pneumonia are commonly complicated by secondary bacterial infections. It is common practice to treat acute viral and mycoplasmal pneumonia with antibacterial until recovery is apparent. In outbreaks of pneumonia where many animals are affected and new cases occur each day for several days, the use of mass medication of the feed and / or water supplies should be considered.
• Mass medication may assist in the early treatment of subclinical pneumonia and is a labor-saving method of providing convalescent therapy to animals which have been treated individual. Corticosteroids have been used for their anti-inflammatory. Effect in the treatment of acute pneumonia. However, there is no clinical evidence that they are beneficial. Affected animals should be housed in warm, well-ventilated, draft-free accommodation, provided with ample, fresh water, and light nourishing food.
• During convalescence condition, the return to work or exposure to bad or cold weather should be avoided. If the animal does not eat, oral or parentral force-feeding should be initiated. If fluids are given intravenously care should be exercised in the speed with which they are administered. Injection at too rapid rate may cause overload on the heart ventricle and death may occur due to acute heart failure.
• Supportive treatment may include the provision of O2 supply to be available especially in the critical stages when hypoxia is evident. In foals, the oxygen can be administered through an intranasal tube passed back to the nasopharynx and delivered at the rate of about 3 liters / min. for several hours. Expectorants may be of value in chronic cases and during convalescence.