What causes chest infections?

A chest infection is an infection of the lungs or airways. The main types of chest infection are bronchitis and pneumonia .

Most bronchitis cases are caused by viruses, whereas most pneumonia cases are due to bacteria.

These infections are usually spreadwhen an infected person coughs or sneezes. This launches tiny droplets of fluid containing the virus or bacteria into the air, where they canbe breathed in by others.

The infections can alsobe spread to othersif you cough or sneeze onto your hand, an object or a surface, and someone else shakes your hand or touches those surfaces before touching their mouth or nose.

Certaingroups of people have a higher risk of developing serious chest infections, such as:

• babies and very young children
• children with developmental problems
• people who are very overweight
• elderly people
• pregnant women
• people who smoke
• people withlong-term health conditions, such as asthma , heart disease , diabetes , kidney disease , cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• people with a weakened immune system this could be due to a recent illness, a transplant, high-dose steroids, chemotherapy ora health condition, such as an undiagnosed HIV infection

You won't usually need to see your GP, unless your symptoms suggest you have a more serious infection (see below).

While you recover at home, you canimprove your symptoms by:

• getting plenty of rest
• drinking lots of fluid to prevent dehydration and to loosen the mucus in your lungs, making it easier to cough up
• treating headaches, fever and aches and pains with painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen
• drinking a warm drink of honey and lemon to relieve a sore throat caused by persistent coughing
• raising your head up with extra pillows while you're sleeping to make breathing easier
• using an air humidifier or inhaling steam from a bowl of hot water to ease your cough (hot water shouldn't be used to treat young children with a cough, due to the risk of scalds )
• stopping smoking

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

Smoking damages your lungs and weakens your defences against infection.

Put tissues in the bin immediately.

The risk to your health is increased by drinking any amount of alcohol on a regular basis.

Eating a healthy, balanceddiet can help strengthen the immune system, making you less vulnerable to developing chest infections.

Flu and pneumococcal vaccinations are usually recommended for:

• babies and young children
• pregnant women (flu jab only)
• people aged 65 and over
• people with long-term health conditions or weakened immune systems

and the pneumococcal vaccine .