treatment Bronchitis

How Is Bronchitis Diagnosed?

Tests are usually unnecessary in the case of acute bronchitis, as the disease is usually easy to detect through your description of symptoms and a physical exam. The doctor will simply use a stethoscope to listen for the rattling sound in your lungs' upper airways that typically accompanies the problem.

In cases of chronic bronchitis, the doctor will likely get an X-ray of your chest to check the extent of the lung damage, as well as pulmonary function tests to measure how well your lungs are working. The level of oxygen in your blood may also be checked with a small sensor that is clipped on your finger.

What Are the Treatments for Bronchitis?

Conventional treatment for acute bronchitis may consist of simple measures such as getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of fluids, avoiding smoke and fumes, and possibly getting a prescription for an inhaled bronchodilator and/or cough syrup. In some cases of chronic bronchitis, oral steroids to reduce inflammation and/or supplemental oxygen may be necessary.

In healthy people with bronchitis who have normal lungs and no chronic health problems, antibiotics are usually not necessary. In most cases, the cause is a virus and antibiotics will not help. A productive (phlegm-producing) cough may come with acute bronchitis. This is your body's way of getting rid of excess mucus. However, if your cough is truly disruptive -- it keeps you from sleeping, is so forceful it becomes painful, or it persists for two or three weeks -- then your doctor may prescribe a cough suppressant. In most cases, you should simply do all the things you usually would do for a cold: Take aspirin or acetaminophen for discomfort and drink lots of liquids. Do not give aspirin to a child aged 18 years of age or younger because of the increased risk of Reye’s Syndrome.

If you have chronic bronchitis, your lungs are vulnerable to infections. Unless your doctor advises against it, get a yearly flu shot as well as a vaccination against pneumonia. One dose of pneumonia vaccine will help protect you from a common type of bacterial pneumonia until the age of 65 when you will likely need a booster. You may need a booster sooner if you have certain other medical problems.

treatment Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

treatment Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

What are the symptoms of SARS?

Usual symptoms include:

• high fever (at least 100.4°)
• headache
• overall feeling of discomfort and body aches
• mild respiratory symptoms (cough, runny or stuff nose)
• diarrhea
• dry cough (after 2-7 days)

How is SARS diagnosed?

In areas where there is a known outbreak of SARS, healthcare providers will diagnose the disease based on symptoms and whether or not the person has been in close contact with someone who has the virus. Sometimes, healthcare providers also will run lab tests to confirm that the virus is SARS.
In areas where there is not a known outbreak of SARS, healthcare providers should consider SARS if a patient has pneumonia (confirmed by an X-ray) and other details about the patient: 

• if he or she recently traveled to areas where SARS outbreaks originated (mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) or close contact with people who have recently traveled to those areas or have SARS symptoms
• works in a job where employees are at risk for exposure to the virus that causes SARS, including having direct patient contact or a worker in a laboratory that contains live virus that causes SARS
• is part of a cluster of cases of atypical pneumonia without another diagnosis

How is SARS treated?

Patients with SARS are treated mainly for pneumonia. There are no generally effective treatments for most types of viral pneumonia. People with severe cases of SARS and pneumonia may be hospitalized. Healthcare providers may treat symptoms to lower fever or ease breathing, using supplemental oxygen and drugs called bronchodilators, which open airways.

Pneumonia - Treatment

Pneumonia - Treatment

Bacterial pneumonia

Doctors use antibiotics to treat pneumonia caused by bacteria, the most common cause of the condition. Antibiotics have a high cure rate for pneumonia.⁵

Your doctor will choose your antibiotic based on a number of things, including your age, your symptoms and how severe they are, and whether you need to go to the hospital. The number of days you take antibiotics depends on your general health, how serious your pneumonia is, and the type of antibiotic you are taking.

Most people see some improvement in symptoms in 2 to 3 days. Unless you get worse during this time, your doctor usually will not change your treatment for at least 3 days.

Getting started on antibiotics soon after getting pneumonia may help recovery.⁵

If there is no improvement or if your symptoms get worse, you may need a culture and a sensitivity test. These tests help identify the organism that is causing your symptoms. These tests also help your doctor find out whether the bacteria is resistant to the antibiotic.

If you do not need to go to the hospital for pneumonia, it is not usually necessary to identify the organism causing the pneumonia before starting treatment. If you do go to the hospital, you will probably have some testing to identify the bacteria.

You likely will not have to go to the hospital unless you:

• Are older than 65.
• Have other health problems, such as COPD, heart failure, asthma,شer disease.
• Cannot care for yourself or would not be able to tell anyone if your symptoms got worse.
• Have severe illness that reduces the amount of oxygen getting to your tissues.
• Have chest pain caused by inflammation of the lining of the lung (pleurisy) so you are not able to cough up mucus effectively and clear your lungs.
• Are being treated outside a hospital and are not getting better (such as your shortness of breath not improving).
• Are not able to eat or keep food down, so you need to take fluids through a vein (intravenous).ش