Has anyone had the experience of their relative getting recurrent chest infections? My 90 year old mother with Alzheimers has had several bad chest infections over the last year, the last 2 landed her in hospital, coughing and difficulty breathing. An x-ray confirmed that she had pneumonia, which they tell me is another name for an infection of the lungs. She recovered ok with I.V antibiotics, oxygen and fluids, but I am wondering if this is a progressive thing, does the immune system deteriorate along with everything else as the person ages? Her swallow is ok, she feeds herself in the Nursing Home on slightly soft foods, in hospital they play it safe and give her pureed foods.