Respiratory tract infection

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Respiratory tract infection

MeSH  | D012141

In medicine, respiratory tract infections include any infection of the respiratory tract. Examples include the common cold, pharyngitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia.

Infections may involve more than one location of the respiratory tract. For example, about half of patients with pharyngitis also have coryza[1] and half of patients with sinusitis complain of sore throat[2].

Common organisms causing the infections include influenza.

## Contents

* 1 Diagnosis
* 2 Treatment
* 3 Prognosis
* 4 References

## Diagnosis[edit]

The United States of America Food and Drug Administration has approved xTAG™ Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) for detecting viral causes.[3]

## Treatment[edit]

Antibiotic therapy did not help in a study of patients who mainly had bronchitis.[4] About 15% had chronic obstructive lung disease and their results were not reported separately.[4]

Zinc, 10-13 mg lozenges every two to three hours while awake, may reduce the duration and severity of symptoms according to a meta-analysis[5] by the Cochrane Collaboration of randomized controlled trials[6][7][8]. Drug toxicity includes nausea, taste disorders, and diarrhea; however, some toxicity may be due to ligands rather than zinc.[6][8]

Guaifenesin may reduce cough.[9]

## Prognosis[edit]

The cough may last 18 days according to a systematic review.[10]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Ebell MH, Smith MA, Barry HC, Ives K, Carey M (2000). "The rational clinical examination. Does this patient have strep throat?". JAMA 284 (22): 2912-8. PMID 11147989. [e]
2. ↑ Williams JW, Simel DL (1993). "Does this patient have sinusitis? Diagnosing acute sinusitis by history and physical examination.". JAMA 270 (10): 1242-6. PMID 8355389. [e]
3. ↑ Anonymous (2008). New Device Approval - xTAG™ Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) - K063765. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved on 2008-11-04.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Little P, Stuart B, Moore M, Coenen S, Butler CC, Godycki-Cwirko M et al. (2012). "Amoxicillin for acute lower-respiratory-tract infection in primary care when pneumonia is not suspected: a 12-country, randomised, placebo-controlled trial.". Lancet Infect Dis. DOI:10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70300-6. PMID 23265995. Research Blogging.
5. ↑ Singh, Meenu; Rashmi R Das (2011). “Zinc for the common cold”, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Retrieved on 2011-02-17.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mossad SB, Macknin ML, Medendorp SV, Mason P (1996). "Zinc gluconate lozenges for treating the common cold. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.". Ann Intern Med 125 (2): 81-8. PMID 8678384. [e]
7. ↑ Prasad AS, Fitzgerald JT, Bao B, Beck FW, Chandrasekar PH (2000). "Duration of symptoms and plasma cytokine levels in patients with the common cold treated with zinc acetate. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.". Ann Intern Med 133 (4): 245-52. PMID 10929163. [e]
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Macknin ML, Piedmonte M, Calendine C, Janosky J, Wald E (1998). "Zinc gluconate lozenges for treating the common cold in children: a randomized controlled trial.". JAMA 279 (24): 1962-7. PMID 9643859. [e]
9. ↑ Smith SM, Schroeder K, Fahey T (2008). "Over-the-counter medications for acute cough in children and adults in ambulatory settings.". Cochrane Database Syst Rev (1): CD001831. DOI:10.1002/14651858.CD001831.pub3. PMID 18253996. Research Blogging.
10. ↑ Haidet, Paul; Ruth E. Levine, Dean X. Parmelee, Sheila Crow, Frances Kennedy, P. Adam Kelly, Linda Perkowski, Larry Michaelsen, Boyd F. Richards (2012-03). "Perspective". Academic Medicine 87 (3): 292-299. DOI:10.1370/afm.1430. ISSN 1040-2446. PMID 23319500. Retrieved on 2012-03-07. Research Blogging.