[2] The most common symptoms caused by pneumonia include fever, fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, and mental status changes.
[3] Parasites can affect the lungs in a number of mechanisms, including as a direct infection, while migrating to other organs, or through an inflammatory response to a toxin (see loeffler's syndrome).
Auscultation of the lungs may reveal decreased breath sounds, dullness to percussion, increased resonance, and crackles at the site of pneumonia.
[5] Common laboratory findings for parasitic pneumonia includes peripheral eosinophilia, or elevated eosinophil levels on a [[complete blood count.
[2] Additional serologic tests may be used to confirm diagnosis of a specific parasite, however these may be positive for multiple years following successful treatment depending on the species.
Parasites that directly infect the lungs and form cysts such as echinococcus and paragonimus westermani can present with small lesions on chest X-ray or computerized tomography that may be confused with tuberculosis or malignant disease.
For example, prevention of toxoplasmosis involves avoiding contact with cat feces and treatment with antibiotics in patients with AIDS.