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Have Pneumonia And Cough. Finished Course Of Azithromycin. Suggest?

Posted on Thu, 20 Jun 2013

Question: I have pneumonia at this time although I think I am on the mend. My lung showed a spot and from that the diagnosis was taken as positive. I am now finishing a 5 tablet regimen of azithromycin (250 mg) which has improved things considerably. My question is: what is the nature of the spot on my lung and will it persist after the pneumonia as gone? In addition, and should I get another chest xray. If so how long after completing the drug. If it matters, I am male, in good health (well, until this started and the fact I have cough variant asthma which causes me no problems), and 76 years of age. Incidentally, my blood saturation at the start the drug treatment was 94%.
Many thanks, XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (58 minutes later)

Dear XXXXXXX

Thanks for your question. The main issue will be to determine if that spot, potentially an infiltrate or nodule is infectious or non-infectious. The stages of peumonia have been well studied and in most normal hosts the lung parenchyma heals within 6 weeks; therefore it would be advisable for you to have a repeat chest x XXXXXXX in 6 weeks after completion of antibiotics; if the aibnormality persists, probably further investigations would be in order starting with a ct scan of the chest

Hope thats useful wish you the best

Dr Brenes Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar