Mucus can turn different colors for a variety of reasons. White snot can occur with a cold, for example, and pink boogers can be a sign of pregnancy. And while green or yellow snot may indicate a bacterial infection—and a need for antibiotics—it can also signal that your body is on the mend.
Red or pink phlegm can be a more serious warning sign. Red or pink indicates that there's bleeding in your respiratory tract or lungs. Heavy coughing can cause bleeding by breaking the blood vessels in the lungs, leading to red phlegm.
Green or Yellow Mucus
It's no reason for concern, and in fact, it means your body is working extra hard to fight off infection. White blood cells rush to battle infection, and when they've done their job, they get flushed out of the body along with the virus.
Clear. Thin and clear mucus is normal and healthy. White. Thicker white mucus goes along with feelings of congestion and may be a sign that an infection is starting.
When your mucus or phlegm is green, all signs point to a respiratory infection—what kind of respiratory infection, though, can't necessarily be discerned just by the presence of green phlegm when coughing or sneezing. Causes of green phlegm can include: Sinusitis, also known as inflammation of the sinuses.
Signs and symptoms of a chest infection
coughing up yellow or green phlegm (thick mucus), or coughing up blood.
Signs and symptoms of a chest infection
The main symptoms of a chest infection can include: a persistent cough. coughing up yellow or green phlegm (thick mucus), or coughing up blood. breathlessness or rapid and shallow breathing.
Green and cloudy: viral or bacterial infection
A lot of the symptoms of viral infections – fever, cough, headache, loss of smell – overlap for COVID-19 and other viral infections like the flu, respiratory syncytial virus and the common cold. That's why COVID-19 testing and seeing a doctor is so important.
Common symptoms of pneumonia include: a cough – which may be dry, or produce thick yellow, green, brown or blood-stained mucus (phlegm)
Clear or white mucus often indicates a viral infection, while yellow or green mucus may suggest a bacterial infection. The biggest difference between viral and bacterial bronchitis is treatment, as antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections don't kill viruses.
Days 3 to 5: Cough and More Nasal Congestion
You may notice that mucus from your runny nose has become thicker, with a yellow or green tinge. This usually is due to a spike in the number of white blood cells your immune system has dispatched to overcome the virus, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Sometimes green mucus and coughing clear up on their own. If you're still experiencing symptoms after 12 days or so, it may be time for a checkup. Lasting coughing and mucus could stem from an infection such as sinusitis.
Small amounts of white mucus may be coughed up if the bronchitis is viral. If the color of the mucus changes to green or yellow, it may be a sign that a bacterial infection has also set in. The cough is usually the last symptom to clear up and may last for weeks.
White mucus or phlegm is common in conditions that affect the lungs, like asthma, bronchitis, or COPD. It can also be caused by common viral infections, too. Any time that white mucus is accompanied by coughing, fever, or other signs of illness, you should check in with a medical provider.
Types of cough
A dry cough is one of the most common coronavirus symptoms, but some people may have a cough with phlegm (thick mucus).
“Normally, mucus is clear. When you have a cold or infection, it might turn green or yellow,” said Alyssa. Clear snot usually signals allergies or some kind of environmental factor that is triggering your nose to start running, such as inhaling dust or allergens.
When you have a sinus infection, your snot typically becomes a thick, green color. This is because mucus acts as a trap for allergens, bacteria, and viruses that carries these foreign invaders outside of your body. These waste products, along with dead white blood cells, account for the greenish color of your snot.
The most common symptoms of bronchitis are: Runny, stuffy nose. Low-grade fever. Chest congestion.
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.
Coughing up white mucus can indicate several conditions, including asthma, bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In some cases, a person may need to see a doctor. Mucus from the chest is responsible for protecting against microbes, and is often white or clear in color when it is healthy.
Often viral cases of pneumonia begin as congestion and cough with or without fever in the first few days. When a doctor listens to the lungs and finds breathing sounds are not clear on either side of the chest, a viral cause over bacterial is even more highly suspected.
White snot can occur with a cold, for example, and pink boogers can be a sign of pregnancy. And while green or yellow snot may indicate a bacterial infection—and a need for antibiotics—it can also signal that your body is on the mend.
If you are coughing green or yellow mucus, let your GP or health care provider know. If you are coughing up blood (or blood stained mucus), call your GP, the COVID-19 Care at Home Support Line or Healthdirect for further advice.