Chest Infection and Bronchitis in Alanya
A lower respiratory infection affects the airways and lungs — bronchitis, bronchiolitis in small children, or pneumonia. Bronchitis is usually viral and improves over two to three weeks. Pneumonia is a different matter and needs treatment. Breathlessness, chest pain, confusion or a high fever with a cough all need to be seen the same day.
What it is
The distinction that matters is between bronchitis — inflammation of the airways, usually viral, with a cough that outlasts everyone’s patience — and pneumonia, an infection of the lung tissue itself, which makes people genuinely ill and can be dangerous.
Pneumonia tends to bring a higher fever, shivering, breathlessness, chest pain that is worse on breathing in, and a marked feeling of illness. In older adults it can present with confusion and unsteadiness rather than a cough at all.
Symptoms
- A cough lasting more than a few days, often with phlegm
- Fever and shivering
- Breathlessness, or breathing that is faster than normal
- Chest pain that is worse when breathing in or coughing
- Wheeze
- Marked fatigue; in older people, confusion or falls
Clinic hours: 09:00–19:00, seven days a week
House calls: 24/7
What helps at home
- Fluids and rest.
- Paracetamol or ibuprofen for fever and chest discomfort.
- Sitting upright, and sleeping propped up, makes breathing easier.
- Stop smoking, at least while you are unwell.
- If you have asthma or COPD, use your inhalers as prescribed and seek advice early — infections destabilise both.
A cough alone is not a reason for antibiotics. A cough with a high fever, breathlessness or chest pain is a reason to be examined today.
When to call a doctor
- Breathlessness at rest, or difficulty finishing a sentence
- Chest pain
- Fever above 38.5 °C with a cough, especially with shivering
- Coughing up blood
- Blue or grey lips or fingertips — call 112
- Confusion or unusual drowsiness, particularly in someone older — call 112
- A baby breathing fast, grunting, or drawing in the skin under the ribs — call 112
- A cough lasting more than three weeks
112 is the emergency number in Turkey — free from any phone, answered in English.
Prevention
How to avoid it
- Do not sit directly under air conditioning, and keep it above 24 °C
- Stop smoking; it is the single largest risk factor for chest infection
- Keep up flu and pneumococcal vaccination if you are older or have a chronic illness
- Treat asthma and COPD properly rather than only when they flare
What we do
Getting seen in Alanya
Oguzhan Care sees this at the clinic in Oba and on house calls to hotels and apartments across Alanya, 24 hours a day. The doctor examines you, treats what can be treated on the spot, and writes the report your insurer will want.
FAQ
Lower Respiratory Tract Infection: common questions
You often cannot, from home. Pneumonia usually brings a higher fever, breathlessness and chest pain, and the person looks genuinely ill. It is diagnosed by examining the chest and, where needed, an X-ray.
Two to three weeks is normal, and up to a month is not unusual. What is not normal is a cough that is getting worse rather than slowly better.
A chest examination, oxygen saturation measurement and starting treatment can all be done in your room. Suspected pneumonia in someone frail, or anyone with low oxygen levels, belongs in hospital and we will arrange it.
Read next
Related pages
Medical disclaimer. This page is general health information, not a diagnosis and not a substitute for a consultation. If someone is unconscious, struggling to breathe, bleeding heavily or having chest pain, call 112 — the Turkish emergency number — immediately.
Written and medically reviewed by Dr. Oğuzhan Özkan, physician, Alanya. Last reviewed: 11 August 2026.
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