YES, YOU CAN PASS IT ON

PNEUMONIA can be contagious – prompting criticism of Hillary Clinton’s decision to kiss a young girl outside her daughter’s apartment in New York just hours after her diagnosis.

It can be passed on by coughs, sneezing and touching objects touched by an infected person.

Pneumonia is a swelling in the tiny air sacs – alveoli – at the end of the lungs. If both lungs are affected, it is referred to as ‘double pneumonia’. It is caused by bacteria, a virus – such as flu – or a fungal infection. It is not known which type affects Mrs Clinton, but most cases are due to bacteria.

It kills 8,000 people in the UK every year – mostly among the elderly. It is the sixth most common cause of death in the UK and seventh in the US.