Bronchitis vs Pneumonia

Green or yellow mucus is usually your own immune cells and shed lining from the airway — not bacteria. Colored phlegm is normal during ordinary viral colds and chest infections. It does not mean you need antibiotics.

A loud, rattling, “junky” cough usually comes from mucus in the larger upper airways — the windpipe and bronchial tubes. That mucus is meant to be coughed up. The noise is your body clearing it, not a sign of pneumonia.

More than 9 out of 10 healthy adults with a sudden cough have a virus. Antibiotics do not treat viruses.

Acute bronchitis is a short-term inflammation of the breathing tubes, almost always viral. Cough with or without phlegm, often after a cold, chest may feel rattly — and vital signs are usually normal. It gets better on its own. Pneumonia is infection deep in the air sacs of the lung. That can be more serious. Fever, a fast heart rate, fast or hard breathing, chest pain with a breath, feeling very unwell, or a chest X-ray showing it are the clues that point that way.

Noisy cough plus colored mucus is not pneumonia and is not a reason for antibiotics by itself. What actually matters is how you feel and your vital signs.

Get seen for fever of 100.4°F / 38°C or higher or shaking chills, shortness of breath or fast hard breathing, chest pain when breathing, coughing up blood, a cough lasting more than 3 weeks or getting worse, or if you are over 65, pregnant, or have a heart, lung, or immune condition.