Bronchitis simply means an inflammation of the bronchus, the windpipe. This is usually caused by infection (viral, bacterial, fungal, etc) allergy, or both. This condition is widely prevalent throughout the world and is a frequent cause of absenteeism from school and work.

Bronchitis seems to be slightly more common in women as compared to males though the difference is not significant. It is more common amongst the younger age group as compared to the adult population.

Cough is the most common symptom. The cough may be either dry (without mucus) or wet (with mucus), depending on the cause and severity. Allergic cough is often dry while infective cough has a tendency to have mucus production. The symptoms of Bronchitis may be listed as under:

A single episode of bronchitis that may resolve within less than three weeks may be called Acute Bronchitis.

If there is an underlying cause of lowered immunity, a tendency to catch an infection, or if there are factors such as Smoking and environmental pollution; there may be a tendency to have Recurrent Bronchitis.

Those patients who have lowered immunity and/or are exposed to maintaining factors such as smoking, pollutants (pneumoconiosis, excessive alcohol consumption and exposure to cold and draught, etc.) may present with Chronic Bronchitis, whereby the patients may have symptoms of Bronchitis for a long time, as long as two months to over years.