5 weeks with symptoms of common cold, now bronchitis .

[balo]

I did not visit the hospital , because it felt like a common cold with all the usual symptoms , runny nose, sore throat, cough, sneezing, mild headache and light fever.   

 

 1 week after it started I felt slightly better so I went out and exercise,d and did the normal outdoor activities. Then after a few days I felt worse again and it developed into a minor throat infection. So I stayed indoor and drinking a lot of fluid and warm tea and tried to relax.  I was always hoping for the symptoms to go away , I felt slightly better but never 100% . 

After 4 weeks my coughing got worse , so I was worried this is not a common cold.  

 

Today I went to the hospital, they did blood tests and x-ray of the chest.   The blood tests were negative , except for my white blood cells , they were above the normal level.   So it must be some sort of bacterial infection in my system.   But the doctor concluded with bronchitis. 

 

I do not smoke so I wonder if my sickness got worse due to the climate or dust? I try not to use the air-con now . 

Anyway I'm on Levofloxacin , Puroxan and FLuimucil.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

[lemonjelly]

Just had exactly the same thing, was starting to freak out after 3-4 weeks coughing.... it just cleared up couple of days ago like nothing had ever happened..... 

[Sheryl]

A cold should not last beyond 2 weeks, if it does it is likely something more than a cold.

 

The doctors did the right thing in checking your blood count and chest xray, and if the white blood count was elevated with a significant proportion of them neutrophils then indeed there is a bacterial infection. It happens. The cold, which is viral, inflames the lining of the respiratory tract making it more susceptible to bacterial infection.

 

The Puroxan is a bronchodilagtor, usually used in people with asthma or chronic bronchitis. I wonder if the doctor heard some wheezing? If so, allergy to some irritant may be a factor.

[balo]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

. I wonder if the doctor heard some wheezing?

I doubt it and he did not mention anything  , but doctors here tend to prescribe more drugs than necessary .    But it doesn't seem to be any side effects with Puroxan so will continue to take it for 7 days.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

.  

 

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by balo

[bartender100]

Good clean of your apartment/house, shower heads soaked in bleach, a/c thoroughly cleaned, bathroom fans cleaned, and change pillows/pillow protector

 

Might not be anything to do with it, but you never know. I was getting terrible blocked nose in the morning, changed to new pillows on advise and they went

[Lumbini]

Balo , don't see a throat and sinus culture on your list of test to identify the exact bacteria if this is not a virus ?

[balo]

10 hours ago, Lumbini said:

don't see a throat and sinus culture on your list of test to identify the exact bacteria if this is not a virus ?

They did a throat swab test , and found gram positve cocci 1+ whatever that means. 

I try to google it and it just means gram positive bacteria , it's more receptive to antibiotics.

So I really hope the antibiotics I'm taking will work. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2017 by balo

[balo]

12 hours ago, bartender100 said:

Good clean of your apartment/house, shower heads soaked in bleach, a/c thoroughly cleaned, bathroom fans cleaned, and change pillows/pillow protector

Good advice, thanks. I cleaned the air-con a month ago.  

But never cleaned the bathroom fan. 

 

[dddave]

On 6/13/2017 at 11:41 AM, balo said:

Good advice, thanks. I cleaned the air-con a month ago.

Interesting that cleaning the AC coincided with the onset of your condition.  Sometimes it can happen that when we clean something, we can actually make things worse.  Every surface has bacteria and different bacteria strains keep one another in check, maintaining a balance.  Sometimes, when we clean, we upset that balance and a perhaps harmful strain becomes dominate.  AC units are pretty fertile bacteria incubators.  Just a thought.

[balo]

4 hours ago, dddave said:

Every surface has bacteria and different bacteria strains keep one another in check, maintaining a balance.  Sometimes, when we clean, we upset that balance and a perhaps harmful strain becomes dominate.  AC units are pretty fertile bacteria incubators.  Just a thought.

You know you made me thinking.  I google "air purifier" and I didn't know the air could affect your health so much!    Since I moved into my new place over 2 months ago I got sick only a few weeks later.  

 

I did not smell anything bad but I notice a lot of dust coming from the outside  even if I clean 2-3 times weekly .  I am going to buy an air-purifier now , it's really important and I talked to someone that told me they did not catch a flu or cold since they turned on the machine!  

 

So I just ordered this air purifier EPA3000 from Hitachi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by balo

[dddave]

17 hours ago, balo said:

So I just ordered this air purifier EPA3000 from Hitachi.

 

Maybe several months down the line, you can report if the air purifier has proved beneficial.

[partington]

19 hours ago, balo said:

 I am going to buy an air-purifier now , it's really important and I talked to someone that told me they did not catch a flu or cold since they turned on the machine!  

 

You catch flu and colds by contact, direct or indirect, with someone who already has a flu or cold, usually by touching something they have touched.

 

You don't get colds and flu from air, unless the air contains droplets of saliva with viruses in them.

 

Infectious diseases are caused by viruses or bacteria. Putting an air purifier in your house has little effect on your contact with these, as they come from people already infected.

 

EDIT:  You may however be thinking of Legionella, a respiratory infection caused by heat-loving bacteria that lives in water systems in buildings, and which you can catch by breathing in infected water droplets, e.g from showering in infected hotels.  

 

Usually disinfection of the water in such systems rather than air-purification is the way such pathogens are controlled.

Edited June 15, 2017 by partington

[balo]

4 hours ago, partington said:

You don't get colds and flu from air, unless the air contains droplets of saliva with viruses in them.

 

Not according to this article from CNN 

 

"Air purifiers can remove the smallest microbes in the air, reducing harmful airborne germs that not only include cold and flu viruses but also dust, pollen, mold spores, pet dander and smoke particles.Nov 15, 2013"

 

 

 

[balo]

Anyway , bacterias or not , It's a lot of dust here so I 'm looking forward to get cleaner air. 

[MuntyC0re]

don't seek advice here, go to the doctor

[partington]

4 hours ago, balo said:

 

Not according to this article from CNN 

 

"Air purifiers can remove the smallest microbes in the air, reducing harmful airborne germs that not only include cold and flu viruses but also dust, pollen, mold spores, pet dander and smoke particles.Nov 15, 2013"

 

 

 

CNN, great though it may be, is not a reliable source of scientific information. 

 

For example see this paper in  from Ontario Health Technology assessment series  (I've never heard of this either but it's the first one I came across) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3382390/

Health Quality Ontar.Air cleaning technologies:an evidence-based analysis.
Ont Health Technol Assess Ser. 2005;5(17):1-52.

 

"Because influenza is primarily acquired by large droplets and direct and indirect contact with an infectious person, any in-room air cleaner will have little benefit in controlling and preventing its spread. Therefore, there is no role for the Plasmacluster ion air purifier or any other in-room air cleaner in the control of the spread of influenza."

Edited June 15, 2017 by partington

[Sheryl]

While they may not help with regard to  viruses/bacteria,, air purifiers may be useful if they remove dust as this is an allergan for many people.

 

Scrupulous housecleaning (including behind/under furniture and appliances, inside wardrobes etc) is also important. Dust and mold that aren't visible because they are behind/under things can still affect you if you are prone to allergy.