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Q. How do you treat Bronchitis?

In an age of rapidly emerging resistance to antibiotics, practitioners must be vigilant when prescribing such medicines.   This is especially important with respect to upper respiratory infections, which although very common, are rarely a consequence of bacterial infection and usually represent a viral process. 

Bronchitis is an infection of the upper airways, the larger airways in the lung.  An analogy would be a tree, with the bronchi being the branches, and the air-exchange units being the leaves.  In bronchitis, the “leaves” are not involved.  When the air exchange units are infected the patient has a pneumonia.  Bronchitis in healthy adults is caused by a virus in well over 90% of cases.  The airways become irritated, and the patient will likely suffer a cough for one to three weeks.  The rare cases ascribable to a bacteria are indistinguishable from viral infections, and the medical literature is replete with studies showing virtually no value to antibiotics in the setting of acute bronchitis.  

Symptomatic treatment for bronchitis is all that is warranted.  This would include over-the-counter (or possibly prescription) cough syrups, an analgesic for muscle pain or fever (such as Acetaminophn or Ibuprofen), plenty of fluids (avoid milk products which can thicken secretions and make them hard to bring up), adequate rest (seven hours a night), and patience.  Bronchitis can be frustrating!  Vitamin C has been shown to shorten the course of viral respiratory infections, so 1000 to 1500 mg of Vitamin C is advisable.  Echinacea has been extensively looked at and the consensus seems to be that there is value to using this for viral respiratory infections.  Do not hesitate to see us in the Health and Counseling Center if you feel your symptoms are not resolving or are particularly troublesome.