Key takeaways:
Pneumonia can feel like a severe chest cold. Symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever, and fatigue.
Pneumonia symptoms may be more or less severe depending on the type of infection and your overall health.
Seek care if you think you have pneumonia. Pneumonia can be a serious infection, particularly if you’re over age 65 and have other health conditions.
If you wake up with a cough and fatigue, you’re probably going to wonder, “Is it a cold or something more serious, like pneumonia?”
Pneumonia is a lower respiratory infection. It develops when a virus or bacteria (or, very rarely, a fungus) infects your lung tissue. As your immune system fights back, fluid and infection-fighting cells start to build up in the lungs. This causes symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath.
Let’s review what pneumonia feels like and which symptoms to look for.
What does pneumonia feel like?
Pneumonia can feel similar to bronchitis (a chest cold).
People with pneumonia usually develop respiratory symptoms, like cough and shortness of breath. Often, the cough is productive, which means that you’ll bring up mucus when you cough.
And people with pneumonia typically experience other symptoms, too, like:
Fast breathing
Fast heart rate
Fevers
Chills
Fatigue
Nausea
Vomiting
Poor appetite
Pneumonia symptoms can start suddenly or develop over a few days. Symptoms may be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on your age or overall health.
It can be hard to tell if you have pneumonia or bronchitis based on just your symptoms. But usually pneumonia symptoms are more severe and get worse without treatment. Bronchitis symptoms are usually less severe and get better on their own within a few days.
How do you get pneumonia?
You can get pneumonia if you inhale a virus or bacteria that infects the lungs. Pneumonia itself isn’t contagious, but the bacteria and viruses that cause infection can spread when a person with an infection coughs or sneezes. So, if you inhale the respiratory droplets, you can get sick.
People with chronic lung issues or a weakened immune system are more susceptible to developing pneumonia.
What are the most common pneumonia symptoms?
As noted above, the most common symptoms of pneumonia are:
Fast breathing
Fast heart rate
Cough (This is often a “wet” cough, which means that it brings up phlegm.)
Chest pain with coughing or breathing.
Fevers and chills
Fatigue
Confusion
Shortness of breath
When should you seek care for pneumonia symptoms?
You should seek care right away if you have any pneumonia symptoms. Don’t wait to see if your symptoms get better or worse. Without prompt treatment, pneumonia can cause severe illness. Pneumonia often needs to be treated with antibiotics. And some people need treatment in the hospital for pneumonia.
Your healthcare team may order blood work and a chest X-ray to determine whether or not you have pneumonia. They can also prescribe antibiotics and other treatments to help you recover.
Some people are at higher risk for severe pneumonia illness. This includes:
Children under age 2
Adults over age 65
People with chronic heart or lung problems
People with diabetes
People who smoke
People with a weakened immune system
Frequently asked questions
Pneumonia itself isn’t contagious. But the bacteria and viruses that cause pneumonia can be passed from person to person. If you inhale respiratory droplets from a person who has a viral or bacterial infection, you could become sick, too. But you might not develop pneumonia from those germs. You could develop an upper respiratory tract infection, like a cold or sinus infection, instead.
People can develop symptoms of pneumonia very quickly (over a period of hours), or symptoms might develop over several days. With treatment, mild cases of pneumonia may resolve within a week. But for people with a severe case of pneumonia, it can take more than a month to recover.
Young children and older adults are at higher risk for getting sick with pneumonia. If you smoke, have underlying lung conditions, or have a compromised immune system, you’re also at higher risk for pneumonia.
Pneumonia itself isn’t contagious. But the bacteria and viruses that cause pneumonia can be passed from person to person. If you inhale respiratory droplets from a person who has a viral or bacterial infection, you could become sick, too. But you might not develop pneumonia from those germs. You could develop an upper respiratory tract infection, like a cold or sinus infection, instead.
People can develop symptoms of pneumonia very quickly (over a period of hours), or symptoms might develop over several days. With treatment, mild cases of pneumonia may resolve within a week. But for people with a severe case of pneumonia, it can take more than a month to recover.
Young children and older adults are at higher risk for getting sick with pneumonia. If you smoke, have underlying lung conditions, or have a compromised immune system, you’re also at higher risk for pneumonia.
The bottom line
Pneumonia can feel like bronchitis (a chest cold). Typical symptoms include a wet cough, shortness of breath, fever, and fatigue. Pneumonia tends to get worse if left untreated, whereas bronchitis tends to get better on its own after a few days. Pneumonia symptoms may be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on your overall health.
Seek medical care if you have symptoms of pneumonia. You may need treatment with an antibiotic or other therapies to prevent serious illness or complications.
Why trust our experts?
References
American Lung Association. (2025). Pneumonia symptoms and diagnosis.
American Lung Association. (2025). Pneumonia treatment and recovery.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Pneumococcal disease symptoms and complications.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2026). Risk factors for pneumonia.
Hill, A. T. (2018). Adult outpatients with acute cough due to suspected pneumonia or influenza: CHEST guideline and expert panel report. Chest.
Thompson, A. E. (2016). Pneumonia. JAMA.
