A 29-year-old otherwise healthy adult presents with a five-day history of nasal congestion, clear to white rhinorrhea, sore throat, and dry cough. She also denies dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, GI upset, or fever. The patient is in no acute distress. Vital signs are temperature 99.2 Fahrenheit or 37.3 degrees centigrade. Respiratory rate is 16. O2 sat is 98 % on room air. Physical exam reveals mild pharyngeal erythema without exudate, no lymphadenopathy and tympanic membranes within normal limits. Lung resam is unremarkable except for occasional cough. The nurse practitioner diagnoses a viral URI or a common cold. The patient states, “I have trip coming up in five days, and I'm really worried that I might have the start of a sinus infection or pneumonia or a strep throat.”

The NP considers which of the following in addressing the patient's concerns?

A. if you start to cough up phlegm within the next day or so, this could indicate the start of a pneumonia

B. If your nasal discharge turns to green or dark yellow, this usually indicates that an antibiotic is needed

C. your cough could persist for a couple of weeks, which is quite common in a viral respiratory tract infection

D. if your sore throat persists for two to three more days, it means that a strep infection is starting

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