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Acute bronchitis, also known as a chest cold, is short-term bronchitis – inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) of the lungs. [2] [1] The most common symptom is a cough. [1] Other symptoms include coughing up mucus, wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, and chest discomfort. [2] The infection may last from a few to ten ...
A wheeze is a clinical symptom of a continuous, coarse, whistling sound produced in the respiratory airways during breathing. [1] For wheezes to occur, part of the respiratory tree must be narrowed or obstructed (for example narrowing of the lower respiratory tract in an asthmatic attack), or airflow velocity within the respiratory tree must be heightened.
The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. Symptoms include coughing up sputum, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest pain. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic. [1] Acute bronchitis usually has a cough that lasts around three weeks, [4] and is also known as a chest cold. [5] In more than 90% of cases, the cause is a viral infection ...
For most infections, the immune response of the body is enough to control and apprehend the infection within a couple days, but if the tissue and the cells can't fight off the infection, the creation of pus will begin to form in the lungs which then hardens into lung abscess or suppurative pneumonitis. [6]
Viruses that cause respiratory infections are affected by environmental conditions like relative humidity and temperature. Temperate climate winters have lower relative humidity, which is known to increase the transmission of influenza. [29] Of the viruses that cause respiratory infections in humans, most have seasonal variation in prevalence.
[9] [10] Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. [3] These may occur a few times a day or a few times per week. [4] Depending on the person, asthma symptoms may become worse at night or with exercise. [4] Asthma is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. [3]
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. [3] [14] Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. [15]
Treatment of the underlying cause is crucial. Appropriate antibiotic therapy is started as soon as culture results are available, or if infection is suspected (whichever is earlier). Empirical therapy may be appropriate if local microbiological surveillance is efficient. Where possible the origin of the infection is removed.