Bronchitis Is A Lower Respiratory Tract Infection (Term Paper Sample)

Acute bronchitis is a lower respiratory tract infection that is always characterized by the inflammation of the bronchi (Aguilar et al. 2016, pp. 286). The onset is often a productive cough with sputum, chest pains, wheezing, dyspnea, and other symptoms of respiratory distress. Mary, a 41-year-old female, presents symptoms of persistent productive cough, difficulty breathing, and chest pains two days after the onset. She also has some left shoulder pain. The history of the presenting conditions reveals an association with fever and loss of appetite. The pain has no relieving or aggravating factors. She has a positive history of smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol. She has never been involved in surgical exposure and has no known food or drug contra-indications.
Objective Examination
The vital signs reveal a relatively higher blood pressure of 141/100, a higher heart rate of 104 beats per minute, and a very high fever of 39.2 degrees Celsius, which could indicate an infection. She has not experienced any weight loss. Upon physical examination, auscultation reveals abnormal breath sounds, including wheezes and crepitations. Palpation reveals no significant details. She has no pallor, jaundice, or cyanosis. She is in reasonably general condition. Laboratory examinations involved blood culture tests, CT scans, chest radiographic x-ray, and complete blood count. The blood culture revealed resistant azithromycin streptococci. The total blood count portrayed an elevated white blood cell count, and the chest x-ray revealed a normal lung with no inflammation or pneumothorax.
Assessment and Plan
According to the subjective and objective examination, the differential diagnosis is acute bronchitis and hypertension. The presentation of a normal lung with no fluid or inflammation is always an elimination tool for pneumonia. The high number of leukocytes reveals an immunological response to an infectious agent. The positive streptococci history in the blood culture test also presents a positive infection. High blood pressure is a positive test for hypertension. The CT scan reveals inflamed bronchi. Thus, the inflammation could be acute bronchitis. The plan involves the treatment of hypertension with anti-hypertensives such as nifedipine, calcium blockers, and others. The fever can be managed by the use of antipyretics such as paracetamol. The inflammation by streptococci can be controlled by using antibiotics such as third-generation cephalosporins, i.e., ceftriaxone, and tablets such as amoxicillin, erythromycin, and many more (Kinkade and Long 2016, pp. 563). The pains can be managed using NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, and many more.