Acute, chronic and viral tracheitis: whether contagious, how long it lasts

Tracheitis is an inflammatory process in the mucous membrane of the trachea, which can occur in both acute and chronic forms. The cause of tracheitis is most often various viruses, bacteria, and less often dry, polluted or cold air.

The symptoms of the disease are specific - dry, less often wet cough, painful and most intense at night. Acute tracheitis can be accompanied by other diseases - laryngitis, rhinitis, pharyngitis and even inflammation of the bronchi

[ 1 ], [ 2 ]

Is tracheitis contagious?

The question of whether tracheitis is contagious concerns the viral nature of the disease. If inflammation of the trachea is caused by viruses, then the contagenosity of the disease is very high. Like other viral infections, viral tracheitis is transmitted by typical airborne droplets, less often by household means, if people around the patient use the same items - dishes, towels, etc. Adenoviruses and respiratory syncytial viruses first affect the mucous membrane of the larynx, viral laryngitis develops, if the disease is not treated, the viruses affect the lining of the trachea, a cough characteristic of tracheitis appears. A patient with tracheitis can infect many people if he continues to be in close contact with close relatives, colleagues. Also, a closed unventilated room, a gross violation of personal hygiene rules (sharing items intended for individual use) can become a factor provoking infection. Susceptibility to infection is especially high in young and school-aged children. Is tracheitis contagious? Of course, it is contagious, given the fact that there are many viruses and it happens that, having overcome one type of virus, a person can become infected with a completely different one. A weakened immune system, having “learned” to respond to a specific viral infection, is not able to resist the invasion of a new virus. This explains the possible relapse of tracheitis.

[ 3 ]

How long does tracheitis last?

The question "how long does tracheitis last" can only be answered by the disease itself, but it, as a rule, strongly "resists" treatment. The period of illness and the recovery period always depend on the form of the inflammatory process, which can be both acute and chronic, that is, protracted. In addition, how long tracheitis lasts is affected by the state of the patient's immunity, the more actively the body fights tracheitis, the faster the recovery will come.

The prognosis for acute tracheitis is usually more favorable. Acute tracheitis goes away with proper and timely treatment in 10-14 days, unless, of course, the disease is complicated by additional problems with the bronchi.

How long chronic tracheitis lasts is more difficult to predict, since the protracted course of the disease does not allow an accurate prediction of the recovery period. However, with complex intensive treatment, patients with chronic tracheitis recover no later than a month from the onset of the disease.

[ 4 ], [ 5 ]

Acute banal tracheitis

Acute tracheitis is rarely an independent disease, as a rule, it is accompanied by an inflammatory process in the bronchial branches. This pathological combination is called tracheobronchitis and is caused mainly by the flu virus, which can later be joined by a bacterial infection (pneumococcal, less often - staphylococcal).

Primary acute banal tracheitis is most often caused by the effects of cold factors (general and local cooling, high humidity in the cold season), creating favorable conditions for the activation of opportunistic local microbiota, as well as an increased content of dust, caustic gases, toxic vapors and various allergens in the inhaled air. Contributing factors can be chronic diseases of the heart and lungs, leading to stagnation and hyperemia of the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract, weakened nutritional status, decreased immunity after infectious diseases or HIV infection. In children, exudative diathesis, rickets, dystrophy, and poor living conditions can act as contributing factors that cause tracheitis. Most often, acute tracheitis occurs in children and the elderly in the spring and autumn.

Acute banal tracheitis is characterized by hyperemia of the mucous membrane, which is covered with mucus, sometimes forming separate lumps. In severe forms of acute banal tracheitis, punctate or more or less widespread hemorrhages may be observed in the mucous membrane, and blood streaks may be present in the mucus.

Symptoms

Acute banal tracheitis usually begins with acute catarrhal rhinitis and nasopharyngitis and quickly spreads downwards, covering all the upper respiratory tract and the trachea. In other cases, the disease simultaneously with the trachea also involves large bronchi, and the symptoms of tracheitis acquire the character of acute tracheobronchitis. The most characteristic symptoms of tracheitis are cough, which especially bothers the patient at night and in the morning, before getting up, caused by the night accumulation of sputum, on the one hand, and the physiological night activation of the vagus system, leading to increased sensitivity of the nerve endings of the vagus nerve, which provides the cough reflex. However, cough in tracheitis is less painful and constant than in bronchitis, appears with a deep breath, laughing, crying, with a change in the ambient temperature. In severe tracheitis, such as during influenza, patients sometimes complain of a dull, aching pain in the pharynx and behind the breastbone, especially after a coughing fit. Due to the pain during deep inhalation, patients try to limit the depth of their breathing. In such cases, children's breathing becomes shallow and rapid to compensate for the oxygen deficiency. When sputum accumulates in the bifurcation area of the trachea, a fit of severe convulsive cough may occur due to irritation of the vagus nerve endings that are abundantly branched in the keel of the trachea. The voice may be hoarse from frequent coughing and concomitant laryngitis. The general condition suffers little from acute tracheitis; subfebrile temperature, headache, a feeling of fatigue, and pain throughout the body are sometimes observed. In children, the clinical picture is acute with an increase in body temperature to 39°C. Shortness of breath usually does not occur, with the exception of acute severe generalized viral lesions of the upper respiratory tract, in which there is severe general intoxication, impaired cardiac activity, and depression of the respiratory center.

The sputum is scanty, at the beginning of the disease it is separated with difficulty, which is explained by the stage of "dry" catarrhal tracheitis, it has a viscous mucous character. Gradually it acquires a mucopurulent character, becomes more abundant and is separated more easily. The cough stops causing unpleasant scraping pains, the general condition improves.

With a normal clinical course and timely treatment, tracheitis ends within 1-2 weeks. Under unfavorable conditions, failure to comply with the doctor's prescribed regimen, untimely treatment of tracheitis and other negative factors, recovery is delayed and the process can become chronic.

During flu epidemics, when the virulence of the virus reaches its maximum, acute hemorrhagic tracheitis with a rapid onset and severe clinical course may occur. Usually, such tracheitis is only part of the clinical picture of general respiratory tract damage and often confluent influenza hemorrhagic pneumonia, ending in the death of the patient. In such forms of respiratory disease, complications such as edema of the subglottic space with the threat of asphyxia often occur, in which case the only salvation for the patient is immediate tracheotomy and massive detoxification treatment. Particularly dangerous complications are the development of bronchopneumonia in the elderly and capillary bronchitis in children.

Diagnostics

Tracheitis is easily recognized, especially in cases of seasonal colds or flu epidemics. The diagnosis is established based on the typical clinical picture and characteristic symptoms of catarrhal inflammation of the tracheal mucosa. Tracheitis is difficult to diagnose in influenza toxic forms, when inflammation of the respiratory tract should be differentiated from lung tissue disease (pneumonia). In this case, physical therapy methods, chest X-rays and other methods of examining the patient, which are within the competence of a pulmonologist, are used.

Forecast

Acute uncomplicated banal tracheitis has a favorable prognosis. In complicated forms and super acute hemorrhagic tracheitis - cautious and even serious.

Treatment

Acute tracheitis is most often caused by a viral infection, usually influenza. In such cases, treatment of acute tracheitis directly depends on the symptoms and severity of the disease. If tracheitis is not accompanied by complications in the form of inflammation of the bronchi, immunomodulatory drugs, abundant and frequent drinking of herbal expectorant infusions, inhalations and aerosol irrigation of the larynx with Bioparox are sufficient. Antiviral and antipyretic drugs are prescribed only in case of severe exacerbation of the disease, when the body temperature exceeds 38 degrees. The use of amizon, interferon, rimantadine or arbidol is indicated. Drugs containing paracetamol or ibuprofen are also taken. A debilitating, dry cough is treated with mucolytic syrups, antitussive drugs that have no contraindications. Syrups containing licorice root, marshmallow, rubbing with warming ointments and mustard plasters are effective. It is also necessary to drink a lot and often, for example, rosehip decoction, which has vitaminizing and diuretic properties. Bed rest, frequent wet cleaning, limiting contacts to avoid additional infection are also integral measures in the therapy of the acute form of the disease.

Treatment of acute tracheitis is carried out as prescribed by a doctor, since uncontrolled use of antiviral drugs can lead to complications and the transformation of tracheitis into a protracted, chronic complicated form.

[ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ]

Chronic banal tracheitis

Chronic tracheitis is most often a consequence of untreated acute form of the disease. With this type of tracheitis, the tracheal mucosa undergoes atrophic changes, as a result of which the patient suffers from bouts of persistent coughing, especially at night. Tracheitis is often accompanied by painful sensations in the sternum, similar in symptoms to pneumonia.

Chronic common tracheitis can develop from acute common tracheitis if the causes that caused the primary inflammation continue to act and if there are contributing factors (harmful production, smoking, alcohol consumption), as well as with poor-quality and incomplete treatment of acute common tracheitis. However, chronic catarrhal tracheitis most often occurs as a consequence of pulmonary emphysema, heart disease, kidney disease, leading to stagnation due to circulatory disorders and the presence of catabolites (under-oxidized metabolic products) in the blood and lymph, which arise as a result of these stagnant phenomena.

Chronic banal tracheitis and chronic tracheobronchitis are diseases predominantly of adults, but can also be observed in children after measles, whooping cough and other childhood infections complicated by acute tracheitis.

[ 9 ], [ 10 ]

Pathological anatomy

Chronic banal tracheitis is divided into hypertrophic and atrophic forms. Hypertrophic tracheitis is characterized by venous congestion and congestion, swelling of the tracheal mucosa, increased secretion of mucus and purulent sputum. According to some data, hypertrophic tracheitis is only the first stage of a systemic process leading to the second (final) stage - the atrophic form of the disease. The latter is characterized by atrophy of the tracheal mucosa, its thinning. The mucous membrane becomes smooth, shiny, gray, sometimes covered with small dry crusts, causing a painful cough. The systemic nature of the process is indicated by the fact that there is no isolated atrophic form, since the atrophic process covers all the upper and lower respiratory tract. This systemic nature is especially evident in ozena, which, according to some data, is nothing more than the true final stage of systemic atrophy of the respiratory tract, ending with the vegetation of a specific ozenous microbiota.

Symptoms

Tracheitis has the following symptoms - cough, more severe in the morning and at night. This cough is especially painful when sputum accumulates in the area of the tracheal carina, drying into dense crusts. With the development of the atrophic process, in which only the superficial layer of the mucous membrane is affected, the cough reflex is preserved, but with deeper atrophic phenomena, affecting the nerve endings, the severity of the cough decreases. Tracheitis lasts a long time, alternating with periods of remission and exacerbation.

Diagnostics

Tracheitis is diagnosed based on local pathological manifestations, usually does not cause difficulties and is carried out using tracheoscopy. However, it is much more difficult to establish the cause of this disease.

Treatment

Chronic tracheitis takes much longer to treat than its acute form. This is due to the fact that the treatment of chronic tracheitis is aimed not only at eliminating the cough symptom, but also at treating complications such as pharyngitis and bronchitis. The chronic form of the disease most often has a bacterial etiology, therefore, antibacterial therapy is indicated. If pus is detected in the sputum, tracheitis is treated with macrolides, which have a broad spectrum of action and are effective against almost all types of pathogens. The course of treatment can last from two to three weeks, depending on the severity of the disease and complications. Treatment of chronic tracheitis is impossible without inhalations, which can be carried out both with the help of pharmaceutical drugs and with the help of decoctions of essential plants - eucalyptus, pine or fir. Inhalations should be carried out at least twice a day for two weeks, even with a subsiding cough. The use of chlorophyllipt is effective, both in the form of irrigation and internally. Irrigation of the larynx with Bioparox will ensure the fastest elimination of inflammatory processes, antitussive syrups will help get rid of debilitating unproductive cough. In addition to pharmacy syrups, you can prepare a decoction of marshmallow or licorice root at home. Treatment of chronic tracheitis should last at least three weeks, even with early neutralization of cough or temperature, this is the only way to avoid a relapse of the disease.

Hypertrophic tracheitis, accompanied by the release of mucopurulent sputum, requires the use of inhalations of antibiotics, the selection of which is carried out on the basis of an antibiogram, blowing in astringent powders at the moment of inhalation. In case of atrophic processes, vitamin oils (carotolin, rosehip oil, sea buckthorn oil) are instilled into the trachea. Crusts are removed by infusing solutions of proteolytic enzymes into the trachea. Basically, the treatment corresponds to that for banal laryngitis and bronchitis.

[ 11 ], [ 12 ], [ 13 ], [ 14 ], [ 15 ], [ 16 ]

Tracheitis in some infectious diseases

Tracheitis in infectious diseases, which most often affect the upper respiratory tract and, in particular, the larynx, occurs very rarely and, as a rule, is secondary. These diseases include infections that are acute (measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhus, etc.) and chronic (tuberculosis, syphilis, scleroma, etc.). The occurrence of both in the trachea only slightly aggravates the overall picture of damage to the upper respiratory tract, but in themselves they are never fatal to the life of the patient. Only in cases where the destructive process goes beyond the trachea and affects neighboring organs (esophagus, blood vessels and nerves), severe complications can occur, significantly worsening the general course of the disease, and sometimes leading to death.

Diagnostics

Tracheitis is diagnosed based on a set of methods described for laryngeal diseases. The same provision is valid for the treatment of these forms of the disease.

Treatment

Tracheitis is treated symptomatically and specifically; treatment is appropriate for each type of infection.

Forecast

Tracheitis has a very different prognosis, from favorable to very serious. It is determined by the type of infection, its complications, the timeliness of the final diagnosis and the effectiveness of treatment.

[ 17 ]

Tracheitis and bronchitis

Tracheitis accompanied by inflammation of the bronchial tree is called tracheobronchitis. Acute tracheitis and bronchitis almost always coexist. Most often, the inflammatory process occurs in the following sequence: a viral or bacterial infection affects the mucous membrane of the larynx, laryngitis develops, then acute tracheitis and bronchitis begin. Thus, the pathological process spreads in accordance with the anatomical location of the organs of the upper respiratory tract. The symptoms that tracheitis and bronchitis exhibit are also similar - a characteristic cough, weakness, feverish condition with an increase in body temperature, increased sweating, and a headache is possible. Tracheobronchitis differs from simple laryngitis and pharyngitis primarily in the nature of the cough. A "barking", dry cough is characteristic of laryngitis, as well as a hoarse voice and difficulty breathing. Tracheobronchitis is also characterized by cough, but it does not affect the timbre and sonority of the voice, in addition, it is not inhalation that is difficult, but exhalation, pain is felt in the chest area, which can radiate to the area between the shoulder blades. Developing tracheitis and bronchitis are accompanied at first by dry coughing fits, more often at night, then the cough becomes moist, sputum begins to leave. In addition, tracheobronchitis is always manifested by hard breathing with typical wheezing. Sputum, which leaves more and more intensively during the process, can "suggest" possible causes of the disease:

• A greenish-yellow tint to the discharge indicates a bacterial infection.
• Liquid in structure, transparent and light sputum indicates a viral infection or allergy.
• Thick, white sputum, often in the form of clots, indicates a fungal infection.

Tracheitis and bronchitis, in addition to standard diagnostic methods, are determined using an auscultatory test: the patient takes a deep breath and then exhales sharply. With narrowed bronchi, the exhalation is literally "heard" as a typical bronchial whistle.

[ 18 ]

Viral tracheitis

Viral tracheitis is most often acute tracheitis. In children, inflammation of the trachea is caused by adenoviruses, which are characterized by high contagiousness and off-season prevalence. The main form of adenovirus infections are diseases of the upper respiratory tract, that is, the larynx, nasopharynx and trachea. Viral tracheitis in adults is also not uncommon, but it most often develops during the epidemic spread of influenza viruses. The signs that distinguish viral tracheitis from a disease of bacterial etiology depend on the severity of the process, but the most characteristic parameters of viral inflammation of the trachea are rhinitis and a specific structure of sputum, which is released after two to three days.

From the onset of infection. Viral tracheitis is almost always accompanied by transparent nasal discharge and fairly transparent-looking sputum. Also, a disease of viral etiology can manifest itself as headache, hyperthermia and general malaise. Viral tracheitis, despite the severity of its course, is treated much faster than other types of tracheal inflammation, sometimes a course of expectorants and immunomodulatory drugs and bed rest is enough.

[ 19 ]

Tracheitis during pregnancy

Tracheitis during pregnancy, unfortunately, is not uncommon, as well as rhinitis or laryngitis. The most common form of the disease is viral tracheitis, which develops against the background of a sore throat, inflamed tonsils or acute respiratory disease. Viral tracheitis, however, like any other infectious disease, is dangerous for both the mother and the fetus, since the pathogens can penetrate the placental barrier. Tracheitis during pregnancy is a rather serious threat in terms of treatment, if the disease is diagnosed as a bacterial infection. After all, in this case, you cannot do without antibiotic therapy, and any antibacterial agents are undesirable for the body of a pregnant woman. In addition, tracheitis during pregnancy can have complications in the form of bronchitis and even bronchopneumonia, which is even more dangerous for the health of the mother and the intrauterine development of the fetus.

The only reliable way to prevent tracheitis during pregnancy is prevention, that is, maximum limitation of contact with sick, sneezing, coughing people who can be found in public places and hospitals.

Prevention

The best way to treat any disease is prevention, and tracheitis is no exception. The main task of tracheitis prevention is to maintain immunity in proper shape, since tracheitis is mainly caused by viruses. It is also important to take safety precautions if there are people around you who have acute respiratory diseases. Tracheitis is transmitted by airborne droplets in 75% of cases, and less often by household contact. Personal hygiene, that is, classic washing and frequent hand washing, helps to avoid not only viral but also bacterial infections. Prevention of tracheitis also means giving up bad habits, especially smoking, by the way, passive smoking is no less dangerous in terms of provoking diseases of the upper respiratory tract. Vitamin therapy, protecting the body through hardening, regular wet cleaning and an active lifestyle will help reduce the risk of developing the disease or avoid it altogether.

[ 20 ], [ 21 ]