Coughing can be a symptom of various health conditions, includingpneumonia.
Pneumonia causes various symptoms, including cough.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe and may include cough, fever, and chest discomfort.
Guido Mieth / Getty Images
A recovery timeline for pneumonia can vary from person to person and based on symptom severity.
Walking Pneumonia
Walking pneumoniais a mild case of pneumonia.
A cough alone is not enough to determine if a person has pneumonia.
This is because other illnesses can cause coughs similar to pneumonia, includingCOVID-19andthe flu.
Some of these conditionsmay also lead to pneumonia.
Are They Productive (Wet) Coughs?
A wet, productive cough brings up mucus.Bacterial pneumonia typically leads to a wet, productive cough.
Additional causes of a dry cough are:
Wet, productive coughs are not always due to pneumonia.
Mucus can become thick and sticky.
If someone has an infection, it may also be white, yellow, or green.
Viral pneumonia may cause watery mucus that comes withpus.
What Is Pus?
Pus is a white-yellow or yellow substance that forms at inflammation sites following a bacterial or fungal infection.
It contains dead white blood cells and other immune system cells, dead infectious organisms, and tissue debris.
It is uncommon for a pneumonia cough to last longer than a month.
The severity of a pneumonia cough and what you cough up depends on the stage.
A severe pneumonia cough may also cause pain.
With bacterial pneumonia, the cough may present within a day or two after initial symptoms.
Immune cells will continue to work to protect the lungs and body, but you will still have symptoms.
It occurs up to 10 days after the congestion stage or after a few weeks.
Other Signs of Pneumonia
Pneumonia symptoms range from mild to severe, depending on the cause.
Bronchitis can be acute or chronic.
A viral or bacterial infection causes an acute throw in.
Chronic bronchitis refers to long-term inflammation of the lungs.
It is difficult to tell whether you have bronchitis or pneumonia based on cough and congestion alone.
Bronchitis will affect the bronchial tubes only, while pneumonia develops and worsens deep into lung tissue.
How to Tell If You Have Pneumonia
Cough alone does not always mean pneumonia.
It can also lead to a severe, life-threatening infection.
Severe infections are more common in high-risk individuals.
PSI or the PORT score is used to determine treatment options and the need for hospitalization.
PSI and PORT scores are ranked by their risk levels.
Antifungal medicines may be prescribed for fungal pneumonia.
Severe pneumonia may require hospitalization and additional treatment.
Medicinal treatment can help treat the underlying infection.
These vaccines protect against severe forms of pneumonia and secondary bacterial infections.
High-risk individuals (e.g., older or immunocompromised) should receive these vaccines to reduce their pneumonia risk.
Summary
Pneumonia is an infection of one or both lungs.
Coughing associated with pneumonia sounds deeper and louder than a regular cough.
Pneumonia coughs are typically productive or wet because they produce mucus.
Viral pneumonia may not always produce mucus, but bacterial pneumonia typically does.
Mucus may be green, yellow, or bloody, or it may contain pus.
The severity of a pneumonia cough may depend on the key in of pneumonia or its stage.
Coughing is only one symptom of pneumonia.
If you think you have pneumonia, contact a healthcare provider.
They can determine the cause of cough and other symptoms and figure out the best treatment course.
Contact a healthcare provider for new or worsening symptoms of pneumonia, especially if you have risk factors.
Seek emergency treatment for breathing troubles, chest pain, or a very high fever.
American Lung Association.Learn about pneumonia.
2018:33-52. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71824-8_3
Yale Medicine.Walking pneumonia: what you should know.
Harvard Health.What can cause a persistent dry cough?
Martin MJ, Harrison TW.Causes of chronic productive cough: an approach to management.Respir.
Med.2015;109(9);p1105-1113.
Mani CS.Acute pneumonia and its complications.Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
2022;50(1):235-242. doi:10.1007/s15010-021-01689-4
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Bronchitis.
2024;19(5):e0303899.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0303899
American Academy of Family Physicians.Pneumonia.
