______ is the inflammation of lung tissue caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or even noninfectious agents.

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Pneumonia is inflammation of lung tissue with alveolar involvement, where the air sacs fill with fluid and immune cells. This consolidation disrupts gas exchange, leading to symptoms like cough, fever, and shortness of breath. It can be triggered by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or even noninfectious irritants, showing how various insults can provoke the same inflammatory process in the lung. This differs from bronchitis, which mainly inflames the bronchial tubes rather than the air sacs; tuberculosis, a specific chronic infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with granuloma formation; and emphysema, which involves destruction of alveolar walls and loss of surface area for gas exchange rather than acute alveolar consolidation.