Airway inflammation can be alleviated with the help of a lot of rest and increase fluid consumption. Taking hot baths often would assuage the inflammation. Use of cough syrup, humidifiers and inhalers can also free the nasal congestion

Bronchitis can last for around 3 weeks in case of healthy individuals who are down with the ailment. But in case of people with COPD or in children where the body immunity is reduced, the disease might prolong for a longer duration. If it lasts for more than 4 weeks, it needs medical attention

A doctor would be able tot ell you this based on the signs that are visible. If you are running temperature, have headache, body aches, sore throat, runny nose, cough with mucus, watery eyes, he might ask you to opt for a chest x ray or spirometry. Based on the results, he can tell you whether you are catching bronchitis

Yes. Bronchitis is contagious. Till when you have symptoms showing up, it is said to be contagious. The infection tends to pass due to close association with infected patients

Antibiotics are of course ineffective against most cases of bronchitis since 90% of them are viral. Additionally, taking antibiotics to suppress symptoms might make the pathogens to become resistant to the antibiotics. So, ask your doctor before taking any of them

Getting a flu vaccine when you have bronchitis should not pose a problem. However, fever can pose a challenge here. However, tell your doctor that you are suffering from bronchitis. Based on this, let him make the final decision

Preventing bronchitis is not challenging. Stay away from others who are infected. Ensure that you adhere to personal hygienic practices and this can help in this regard

Acute bronchitis refers to the airway inflammation. In this type of bronchitis the course of symptoms is rapid. It can be either viral, bacterial, parasitic or due to pollutants

Antibiotics are not at all effective against viral bronchitis. However stay away from allergens. Take rest and elevate your intake of fluids. That would help and with time, your cough would disappear

This is one of the major reasons for chronic cough. It is less prevalent than asthma. It refers to the inflammation of the airways where the tests do not show asthma but phlegm biopsy test results shows the presence of eosinophils