In addition to lab tests, sputum or mucus from a cough can be visually examined to determine whether bronchitis is viral, bacterial, or both. Clear or white mucus often indicates a viral infection, while yellow or green mucus may suggest a bacterial infection.
Diagnosis of Bacterial and Viral Infections
But your doctor may be able to determine the cause by listening to your medical history and doing a physical exam. If necessary, they also can order a blood or urine test to help confirm a diagnosis, or a "culture test" of tissue to identify bacteria or viruses.
Antibiotics are only used to treat bacterial chest infections. They're not used for treating viral chest infections, like flu or viral bronchitis. This is because antibiotics do not work for viral infections. A sample of your mucus may need to be tested to see what's causing your chest infection.
The infection will almost always go away on its own within 1 week. Doing these things may help you feel better: Drink plenty of fluids. If you have asthma or another chronic lung condition, use your inhaler.
These symptoms can be unpleasant, but they usually get better on their own in about 7 to 10 days. The cough and mucus can last up to 3 weeks.
Testing. A lab test is the only ironclad way to determine if you truly need an antibiotic. A physician can collect a sample of bodily gunk (whatever you can cough up or blow out of your nose) or take a throat swab. In general, a culture, in which bacteria are grown in the lab and tested, can take a day or two.
Antibiotics are only needed for treating certain infections caused by bacteria, but even some bacterial infections get better without antibiotics.
A bacteria culture is a test to confirm whether you have a bacterial infection. The test can also identify what type of bacteria caused the infection, which helps guide treatment decisions. For a bacteria culture test, a healthcare provider takes a sample of blood, stool, urine, skin, mucus or spinal fluid.
A cough that expels mucus (also known as phlegm) from your airways is called a productive, wet, or chesty cough because it serves a function. A cough that does not produce mucus and serves no useful purpose is called a non-productive or dry cough. It can also disrupt much-needed sleep, leaving you exhausted.
Use a humidifier or inhale steam vapor to help relieve coughing. Have a warm drink of honey and lemon if your throat is sore from too much coughing. Avoid smoking, or being around secondhand smoke or other irritants. Stay away from cough suppression medicines.
However, if your doctor suspects that you have a bacterial infection, he or she may prescribe an antibiotic. In some circumstances, your doctor may recommend other medications, including: Cough medicine. If your cough keeps you from sleeping, you might try cough suppressants at bedtime.
Many chest infections aren't serious and get better within a few days or weeks. You won't usually need to see your GP, unless your symptoms suggest you have a more serious infection (see below). While you recover at home, you can improve your symptoms by: getting plenty of rest.
A fever may be the first or only sign of infection. But some infections may not present with fever and it could be another symptom.
The guidelines recommend tetracycline and amoxicillin as “preferred” antibiotics. In cases of hypersensitivity, macrolides are recommended as an “alternative” antibiotic.
An untreated bacterial infection can also put you at risk for developing a life-threatening condition called sepsis. Sepsis occurs when an infection causes an extreme reaction in your body. The bacteria most likely to cause sepsis include Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, and some types of Streptococcus.
Symptoms in case of acute Bacterial Infections may get resolved spontaneously in a duration of approx. two weeks, without undergoing treatment. However, in chronic cases when the symptoms persist for a longer duration, such as for 10 or more days, there is a need for the consultation with a doctor.
Call your doctor if your cough (or your child's cough) doesn't go away after a few weeks or if it also involves any one of these: Coughing up thick, greenish-yellow phlegm. Wheezing. Experiencing a fever.
Speak to a GP if:
your cough is particularly severe. you cough up blood. you experience shortness of breath, breathing difficulties or chest pain. you have any other worrying symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, a persistent change in your voice, or lumps or swellings in your neck.
Antibiotics do not fight viruses.
The common cold and flu, RSV and COVID-19 are all viruses. Most sore throats are caused by viruses, especially when there is also a runny nose or cough. Chest colds, even when the cough thick, sticky phlegm or mucus last a long time, are most often caused by viruses.