How can I know when chest infection is viral or bacterial?

Please if anyone can tell me what symptoms are for viral and/or bacterial infection, sometimes doctors do not know or do not care enough and overprescribed antibiotics. Thanks for information.

There is no way to tell without laboratory tests, both have similar symptoms.

Check mucus after coughing. If it is anything but clear you have a bacterial infection which requires antibiotics. Same rule applies to when you blow your nose. You want watch for yellow or green mucus. Hope this helps you!

This is a great question, but unfortunately there is no sure way to tell the difference between the two, as the symptoms of both are pretty much identical.

However, in general: viral infections will be accompanied early on by diahhrea or very soft stools and bacterial infections will not. Also, viral infections will usually be over in one week, bac infections can last for longer, even months. Finally, nasal discharge for viral infections will be CLEAR and for bac infections, it will be yellow or green.

Symptoms of the same infection can be different for different people. For instance, I know when I've got a virus because my stomach is usually sore when it starts, and I get an itchy throat early on. Bac infections usually give me heavy sinus pressure and very sore eyes when they are coming on. Once they take hold though, I can't tell the difference any more.

Hope this helps! Good luck getting over your illness!!

PS -- the flu is really going around right now, so if you're sick, there's a good chance you have the flu -- which DOES cause respiratory symptoms in adults.

A sputum culture may show whether pathogenic microorganisms and/or neutrophils is present in it. Lungs are also infected by fungus.
Please see the web pages for more details on Bronchitis.

I'm sorry, but ONLY a LAB TEST can tell for sure ... and a doctor must order it, so the only thing you can do is go to the doctor and 'convince him' that you do not want to take any 'antibiotics' until/unless you know for sure you have an 'infection' and not a 'virus' ... which you should be able to do.

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If you have watery discharge from the nose and eyes, the infection is viral. Later, nasal discharge changes to yellow or green, but this is due to shed epithelial cells and not bacterial infection. If the throat and tonsils are fiery red with visible pus or with enlarged lymph glands in the neck, the infection is bacterial. If you have fast breathing and chest pain on breathing, it is pneumonia and it must be treated as bacterial, with antibiotics.