While it’s possible to manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of chronic lung conditions, with medications and healthy lifestyle habits, symptoms can sometimes flare up. When this happens, you’re experiencing an exacerbation, which includes worsening symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest tightness, increased coughing and wheezing, and more mucus in your lungs. This is often caused by a trigger, such as something in the environment or an infection in your body.
In the case of infection, treatment depends on whether the underlying cause is viral or bacterial.
Most respiratory infections tend to be viral as opposed to bacterial, says Courtney Crim, MD, clinical associate professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and medical director with the COPD Foundation. “Still, bacteria can definitely play a role, with infections being purely bacterial or a mix between a virus and bacteria,” Dr. Crim says.
Bacterial infections that often play a role in COPD exacerbations include Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Moraxella catarrhalis. When an infection is bacterial in nature, antibiotics may help. But keep in mind that antibiotics only work if the infection is bacterial, not viral.
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