Chest infections: Here is everything you need to know

A chest infection is usually caused due to a viral infection like bronchitis or a bacterial infection like pneumonia.

Written By: Debjani Arora | Updated : September 6, 2018 8:18 AM IST

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar has been hospitalized in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital reportedly after he complained of chest infection and difficulty in breathing. Chest infections are common in the elderly population and the veteran actor is struggling with various health issues at the age of 95. However, chest infection is not all about age there could be a host of reasons for one to get infected.

Chest infections are either viral or bacterial infections that affect the lungs the large airways or the smaller air capillaries. These infections can make the lungs swollen and inflamed due to mucus and fluid build-up. The most common symptoms of chest infection are coughing and wheezing. Most chest infections are mild and go away on their own but some could be life-threatening too.

Symptoms of chest infections

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Here are some of the common symptoms of chest infections:

A persistent cough
Yellow or green phlegm (thick mucus), or coughing up blood
Breathlessness or shallow breathing
Wheezing
High temperature (fever)
Rapid heartbeat
Chest pain or tightness
A headache
Fatigue
Pain in muscles and joints

Causes of chest infection:

A chest infection is usually caused due to a viral infection like bronchitis or a bacterial infection like pneumonia. These infections are usually spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes when tiny droplets of fluid containing the virus or bacteria are breathed in by others.

People who are at a high risk of developing chest infection are:

Babies and very young children
Children with developmental problems
Overweight people
Elderly people
Pregnant women
Smokers
People with long-term health conditions, such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
People with a weakened immune system this could be due to a recent illness, a transplant, high-dose steroids, chemotherapy or a health condition, such as an undiagnosed HIV infection

How chest infections are treated:

Your doctor will usually only prescribe antibiotics if you have pneumonia, or you're at risk of complications such as fluid building up around the lungs. If the infection is due to seasonal flu your GP may also prescribe antiviral medication. Avoid cough medicines, as there's little evidence they work, and coughing actually helps you clear the infection more quickly by getting rid of the phlegm from your lungs. Antibiotics aren't recommended for many chest infections, because they only work if the infection is caused by bacteria, rather than a virus.

What you should do when you have a chest infection

While you recover at home, you can improve your symptoms by:

Get plenty of rest
Drink lots of fluid to prevent dehydration and to loosen the mucus in your lungs, making it easier to cough up
Treat headaches, fever and aches and pains with painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen
Drink a warm drink of honey and lemon to relieve a sore throat caused by persistent coughing
Use an air humidifier or inhaling steam from a bowl of hot water to ease your cough (hot water shouldn't be used to treat young children with a cough, due to the risk of scalds)
Stop smoking

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