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Bronchitis
How is bronchitis diagnosed?
In clinical practice, if bronchitis is suspected, it is not very difficult to confirm the diagnosis. It generally involves combining clinical symptoms with results from routine blood tests, chest X-rays, or CT scans for a definitive diagnosis. Most cases will show thickened bronchial or lung markings, and an increase in the total number of white blood cells in the blood. The main symptoms include coughing, expectoration, and difficulty breathing. Diagnosis can be confirmed by combining personal medical history, physical signs, and laboratory test results, allowing for timely anti-inflammatory treatment.
Symptoms of bronchitis
If it is acute bronchitis, the onset is usually quite sudden and symptoms may include fever, cough, and expectoration. Some patients may experience bloody sputum or symptoms like chest tightness and shortness of breath. Coughing and expectoration often continue for two to three weeks, after which most patients can recover. If it is chronic bronchitis, the onset is often gradual, and symptoms such as coughing, expectoration, and wheezing occur repeatedly. The episodes each year may last for more than three months.
What are the symptoms of bronchitis?
Bronchitis is a common clinical disease, which can generally be divided into acute bronchitis and chronic bronchitis in clinical practice. Acute bronchitis often has a sudden onset, with symptoms such as coughing and expectoration; some people may also experience fever, chest tightness, and wheezing. Typically, the course of the disease lasts two to three weeks. Chronic bronchitis, on the other hand, has a longer duration, with a more gradual onset and symptoms of recurrent coughing and expectoration, and even chest tightness. The annual duration of the disease is more than three months, with a typical onset lasting over two years, making it very long and difficult to control.
Causes of bronchitis
Bronchitis is mostly caused by the invasion of pathogenic bacteria into the body, affecting the bronchi. Common pathogens include Streptococcus pneumoniae, rhinovirus, adenovirus, mycoplasma, chlamydophila, and it might also be due to infection by pathogenic bacteria such as Bordetella. It often occurs when the body's immune system is compromised, due to staying up late, being exposed to cold, lack of sleep, or getting wet in rain. During the acute phase, symptoms such as high fever, chills, coughing, spitting phlegm, and breathing difficulty may occur. It's important to detect and treat it early to prevent it from turning into chronic bronchitis.
What should I do if my baby has bronchitis?
Bronchiolitis in babies is an inflammation, which may be caused by infections such as bacteria, viruses, or mycoplasma. The primary treatment is anti-infection, for which antibiotics like oral cephalosporins or penicillin can be chosen for the treatment. Additionally, treatment includes expectorants and cough suppressants, where one or two types of traditional Chinese or Western medicine can be used orally. If the coughing is frequent, nebulized inhalation can be administered to achieve local anti-inflammatory, expectorant, and cough suppressant effects. While treating, it's important to observe the effects and administer intravenous infusions if necessary.
Chronic bronchitis etiology
The etiology of chronic bronchitis is not very clear at present, and it is now believed to be caused by the long-term interaction of various factors. The most closely related factors are harmful gases or particles that act on the respiratory tract for a long time, causing damage to some structures of the respiratory tract, such as cigarette smoke, fumes, dust, irritating gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, etc. These physicochemical factors cause damage to the airways. Additionally, some infectious agents, such as bacteria, mycoplasma, or viral infections, along with some immune-related factors, are believed to play a certain role in the development of chronic bronchitis.
Symptoms of bronchitis in children
Pediatric bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial mucosa caused by various pathogens. Clinical presentations commonly begin with symptoms of upper respiratory infection such as nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, or low-grade fever, followed by coughing as the main symptom. Initially, the cough is dry, later accompanied by phlegm. Symptoms can be more severe in infants and young children, often including fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, generally without systemic symptoms. Auscultation of the lungs reveals coarse breath sounds, with fixed and scattered dry rales, and medium to coarse moist rales. Infants and young children often have difficulty expelling phlegm, which may be audible in the throat and lungs as a rattling sound. If the infant or young child has wheezing bronchitis accompanied by eczema, or other allergic histories, they may develop pronounced symptoms of difficulty breathing, and may even progress to asthma.