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My project shows three sets of alveoli in various stages of a pneumonia infection. The pinkish one is clear and functional. The green-red is inflamed and filled with pus and blood. It is not usable for gas exchange. The black and red one is necrotic and non-functional.
This project is about pneumonia and how it gets in the body. It’s spread through contaminated air droplets and when the pathogen manages to make its way to the lungs, it wreaks havoc. The immune system gets overwhelmed by the pathogen, which causes inflammation. The inflammation is caused by pus building up in the alveoli because of white blood cells coming in to help the macrophages. The pus that builds up is made of the white blood cells that came to help and debris. This can result in hypoxia, where there isn’t enough tissue to keep up gas exchange. If the inflammation lasts too long, dead cells start to build up in the alveoli. All the dead cells cause more inflammation and can lead to sepsis. Damaged blood vessels make it difficult to get nutrients and drugs to the lungs, which can cause lung tissue to die off.