1. Clinical algorithm for the diagnosis of acute cough.
Clinical algorithm for the diagnosis of acute cough. Cough can persist for ≤8 weeks after an acute infection subsides (post-infectious cough). Except for special circumstances (table 3), further examination according to the algorithm for chronic cough is only necessary after 8 weeks (box 12). #: in otherwise healthy patients, antibiotics are not beneficial even in cases of purulent (green or yellow) sputum [46]; they are only recommended in comorbid or elderly patients with sputum purulence. ¶: caveat is remittent small pulmonary emboli with episodes of remittent cough, palpitations, breathlessness; slight haemoptysis may also occur. Modified from [1] with the publisher’s permission.
P. Kardos breathe 2010;7:
©2010 by European Respiratory Society