Chest infection

Although most are mild and get better on their own, some can be serious or even life-threatening.



a persistent cough coughing up yellow or green phlegm (thick mucus), or coughing up blood breathlessness or rapid and shallow breathing wheezing a high temperature (fever) a rapid heartbeat chest pain or tightness feeling confused and disorientated

You may also experience more general symptoms of an infection, such as a headache, fatigue, sweating, loss of appetite, or joint and muscle pain.

Symptoms

The main symptoms of a chest infection can include:

a persistent cough coughing up yellow or green phlegm (thick mucus), or coughing up blood breathlessness or rapid and shallow breathing wheezing a high temperature (fever) a rapid heartbeat chest pain or tightness feeling confused and disorientated

You may also experience more general symptoms of an infection, such as a headache, fatigue, sweating, loss of appetite, or joint and muscle pain.


Many chest infections aren’t serious and get better within a few days or weeks. You won’t usually need to see your GP, unless your symptoms suggest you have a more serious infection.

While you recover at home, there are things you can do to improve your symptoms.

Do get plenty of restdrink lots of fluid to prevent dehydration and to loosen the mucus in your lungs, making it easier to cough uptreat headaches, fever and aches and pains with pain relief such as paracetamol or ibuprofendrink a warm drink of honey and lemon to relieve a sore throat caused by persistent coughingraise your head up with extra pillows while you’re sleeping to make breathing easierstop smoking if you smoke

Avoid cough medicines, as there’s little evidence they work. 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.

Your GP will usually only prescribe antibiotics if they think you have pneumonia, or you’re at risk of complications such as fluid building up around the lungs (pleurisy).

If there’s a flu outbreak in your local area and you’re at risk of serious infection, your GP may also prescribe antiviral medication.

Read more about treating bronchitis and treating pneumonia