Mary Lou Retton’s pneumonia: When does the infection become life-threatening? Experts share warning signs

Mary Lou Retton excelled against her competitors to win an Olympic gold medal in 1984 — but now the 55-year-old American gymnastics icon faces a more challenging opponent. On a fundraising page earlier this month, Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, wrote that her mother 'has a very rare form of pneumonia and is fighting for her life,' adding that she had been in the ICU and was not able to breathe on her own.

It leads to more than one million hospitalizations and more than 50,000 deaths per year,' said Dr. Fred Davis, associate chair of emergency medicine at Northwell Health Long Island Jewish Medical Center on Long Island, New York. 'Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that can be caused by viruses, bacteria and fungi, which leads to inflammation and a buildup of fluid, causing issues with oxygenation,' Davis told Fox News Digital. Common causes of viral pneumonia in the U.S.

Although anyone can get the infection, 'those who are young, are older than 65 or have weakened immune systems are at greater risk of a bad outcome should they get pneumonia,' Davis told Fox News Digital.

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