What are the symptoms of acute bronchitis

Bronchitis can also be divided into acute and chronic. The symptoms of acute bronchitis are generally more obvious, with obvious dry cough. In the early stages of the disease, it will be somewhat similar to a cold, with symptoms of sneezing and coughing, and the cough will gradually worsen.

1. Acute bronchitis is common in infants and young children.

2. Most patients first have symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection, followed by coughing as the main symptom. Frequent and deep dry coughs begin, followed by bronchial secretions. The cough usually lasts for 7 to 10 days, sometimes lingers for 2 to 3 weeks, or recurs.

3. Those with mild symptoms have no obvious signs of illness and generally no systemic symptoms.

4. Infants and young children have more severe symptoms and are prone to fatigue, which affects their sleep and appetite. The fever may reach 38-39°C, occasionally 40°C, and usually subsides in 2-3 days. Even gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain may occur. The older child complained of headache and chest pain again.

5. Dry and moist rales can be heard in the chest, which may be coarse or fine, mostly medium moist rales, mainly scattered in the lower chest, occasionally limited to one side.

6. After coughing up secretions, the rales may temporarily decrease. Occasionally, due to excessive phlegm accumulation in the bronchi, the breath sounds may decrease, but after the phlegm is coughed out, the breath sounds return to normal.

7. In severe cases, the breath sounds in both lungs are coarse, and there may be irregular scattered dry and wet rales and coarse medium wet rales. However, it is difficult to distinguish from pneumonia in the early stages. If deeper rales or crackles are heard and the rales do not decrease significantly after coughing, pneumonia should be considered and a chest X-ray should be performed to confirm the diagnosis.