With the most common type of pneumonia, symptoms start to appear quite suddenly. There is pain in chest area, which causes discomfort every time a person coughs or even breathes. This is because of the narrowing of the fine tubes in the lungs and inflammation of the air sacs, which is in-turn caused by the infection.

The symptoms of pneumonia mainly include chills, fever, and shortness of breath, and also cough accompanied with yellowisly green phlegm or occasionally blood. Chest pain when breathing can also be a symptom of pneumonia, which is a result of inflammation of the membrane that lines the lungs and chest cavity.

The cough would be dry at the beginning of the illness, but later it is accompanied with phlegm that is often green/yellow or rust coloured and may be smelly. Pneumonia also is accompanied by flu-like symptoms such as fever, aches, and loss of appetite. The exact symptoms may vary depending on the type of micro-organism causing the infection and the extent of the infection.