How to determine when you have pneumonia?

Depends on patient: The typical symptoms include fever, productive cough, often sudden onset symptoms, shortness of breath, sharp chest pain with breathing but in patients who are older or have chronic disease(diabetes, heart failure, copd) the symptoms can be be more subtle and insidious in onset.

Pneumonia.: Symptoms include cough, chest discomfort, shortness of breath, chills and sweats. Can develop quickly or can take some time, depending on the bacterium/virus involved. Signs include a measured fever and typical findings on a chest X-ray.