Lower Respiratory Tract Infections Flashcards
When in the year are LRTIs most common?
Winter
How does incidence of LRTI vary with age?
Very common in small kids
Drops off in kids>5
Then Increases with age
What is happening in Acute bronchitis?
The bronchi are temporarily inflamed
What are the symptoms of Acute acute bronchitis?
Cough Infected Sputum (green/yellow) Wheeze Fever Shortness of Breath
What causes Acute Bronchitis?
An infection of the lungs, 90% of cases its viral
What bacteria are known to cause Acute Bronchitis?
Strep. Pneumoniae
Haemophilus Influenzae
Moraxella Catarrhalis
What part of the lung is affected by Pnuemonia?
The parenchyma, i,e, alveoli
What symptoms come with pneumonia?
Breathlessness Pleuritic chest pain/pluerisy Cough often with infected sputum Fever Sweating/Shivering
How does a CXR look for someone with lobar pneumonia?
Large isolated sections of consolidation
How does a CXR look for someone with bronchopneumonia?
Patchy consolidation all over the lungs
How serious a killer is pneumonia?
The uks 2nd highest killer with a hospital mortality of 6-15%
What is bronchiectasis?
Permanent Abnormal dilatation of the bronchi which allows mucous to build up leading to chronic sepsis
What are some common causes for bronchiectasis?
- Immunoglobulin deficiencies
- Cystic fibrosis
- Following severe infectious episodes like pneumonia and TB
What can bronchiectasis increase susceptibility to?
Frequent lung infections, including recurrent pneumonia
What are the common symptoms of bronchiectasis??
Cough Large scale sputum production Copious pus formed Occasional haemoptysis (couhing blood) Frequent Chest infections
What other signs are there of bronchiectasis?
Clubbing
Lung crackles on both inspirtaiton and expiration
What kind of investigations can be used for bronchiectasis?
- A sputum culture to show up resistant organisms like psuedomonas and klebsiella
- Spirometry to show the level of airflow obstruction caused by the mucous/sepsis
- CXR or CT
What would a CXR of bronchiectasis show?
Possibly nothing
In extreme cases cystic “tramlines” of the enlarged bronchi are visible