(Editor’s Note: Physician’s Assistant Nita Bittle offers this advice for combating winter illnesses.)

This time of year, it seems everywhere you go someone is coughing.

Do they have pneumonia, the more common cold, or an upper respiratory infection? If a person has symptoms of these ailments should they be treated at home, and if so, how? Or should a person call their health care provider for an appointment?

Upper respiratory infection — URI or common cold — is common in the fall and winter months. Humans are subject to it and one of their best defenses is easy and inexpensive — hand washing. If symptoms develop, they may include chills and fever that last one to three days; headache, body aches, and sore muscles; runny or stuffy nose; decreased hunger and thirst; red, watery, and sore eyes; sneezing; coughing, sore throat, and hoarseness; and feeling tired or restless.

These are best treated with rest, over-the-counter pain medications and fever reducers, and decongestants (if the health care provider has approved them). It’s also important to drink many fluids, and make them calorie-containing if you aren’t eating well.

Cover mouth and nose with the elbow when coughing and sneezing to avoid spreading germs to others. Wash hands after blowing the nose or touching the face. Do not share food or drinks with others. Try to stay away from others, especially the first two to three days of a cold.

To avoid catching a cold, stay away from crowded places, especially in the winter.

If symptoms worsen for more than four to five days or last longer than 10 to 14 days, an antibiotic or other prescription treatment may be needed. Antibiotics do not work to treat illnesses caused by a virus, but rather a bacterial infection and can have their own side effects also. They aren’t right for everyone so advice from a health care provider is important.

Some people can have a cough for three weeks after this type of infection.

Pneumonia has many of the same symptoms, but the symptoms often progress more quickly and a person may experience more shortness of breath because it is an infection in the lungs or lower respiratory tract. The phlegm may have streaks of blood, there may be abdominal pain, increased heart rate, trouble speaking because of shortness of breath, wheezing, or trouble thinking clearly.

It can be avoided by using the same precautions as for a cold, but will likely require a trip to a health care provider and is more urgent. It may be treated with antibiotics, antifungal or antiviral medications. It may require inhalers or inhaled medications, IV medications, expectorants, pain/fever medication, oxygen, and breathing treatments.