Live Life Team
The condition where the airways that lead to the lungs become infected or the lungs become infected is commonly known as chest infection. The medical conditions such as bronchitis and pneumonia fall into the category of chest infection.
Chest infection is characterised by the presence of severe cough with phlegm collected in the chest, which the people bring out while coughing.
Chest infection is of two kinds:
- Pneumonia and
- Acute bronchitis
Acute bronchitis is a condition where the bronchi, the air tubes in the lungs, are infected by the virus. A person tends to develop this infection once he has a flu or common cold. This condition usually does not require any particular treatment as it normally disappears within ten days. A person who is a regular smoker has higher chances of developing this infection.
Pneumonia is a medical condition where the air sacs which are present in the lungs develop inflammation due to the filling up of fluid. Pneumonia is normally caused by bacteria, but pneumonia due to viral infection is also possible. One must take care not to spread pneumonia by covering the nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and then washing the hands.
Symptoms
Even though the both acute bronchitis as well as pneumonia is characterised by the cough with phlegm as well as a high fever, the symptoms of those who have pneumonia is very severe.
The common symptoms of acute bronchitis are:
- consistent cough
- coughing out a green or yellow coloured phlegm
- breathlessness due to over exertion
- dry mouth
- wheezing
- high fever
- appetite loss
- headache
The commonly found symptoms for pneumonia are:
- breathing which is shallow and rapid
- consistent coughing with green or yellow phlegm
- palpitations
- very high temperature
- chest pain.
Some other symptoms of pneumonia are less common. They are:
- presence of blood while coughing
- appetite loss
- headaches
- nausea
- vomitting
- fatigue
- muscle pain
- joint pain
- bluish tinting of skin
Elderly people who acquire this infection can be disoriented and confused.
Causes
Acute bronchitis is normally a viral infection. But in rare cases, acute bronchitis can develop as a bacterial infection. The bronchi and the trachea develop inflammation for a temporary period. The inflammation results in the swelling up of the bronchi as well as the building up of phlegm. Antibiotics are not prescribed for acute bronchitis normally because this is a viral infection.
Pneumonia is the bacterial infection which results in the inflammation of the lung tissues. Pneumonia is generally contagious in nature. The oxygen absorption ability of the body while breathing is reduced due to pneumonia.
Treatment
Acute bronchitis normally clears off by itself within 10 days. The symptoms of this infection can be relieved by:
Intake of fluids in large quantities.
One can opt for using the analgesics like ibuprofen for getting relief from the chest pain and the high fever.
If the person has the habit of smoking, he should stop smoking,
People who suffer from pneumonia are generally admitted to the hospital. Oral antibiotics are normally administered, but in severe cases, intravenous antibiotics are also used for a course of one week.
