Comment:
Pneumonia is an acute inflammation of the
airspaces of the lung, usually caused by bacterial infection. This woman died of pneumonia
affecting an entire lobe of the lung, before the advent of antibiotics. Nowadays, it is
uncommon to die in the acute stages of lobar pneumonia because Streptococcus
pneumoniae ("the pneumococcus"), which is the bacterium that typically
causes a lobar distribution of pneumonia, is sensitive to various antibiotics. However,
there is an increasing incidence of pneumococcal resistance to Penicillin - usually the
most effective antibiotic in this situation.