What is the best medicine for fever, cough, and congestion?

Question

Hello doctor,

I have mild fever, severe cough, cold, and chest congestion. I tested for COVID-19, and the result came back negative. Can it be flu or viral infection What is the best medicine to treat my symptoms? Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand your concern. Since the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease-2019) pandemic is not over yet, any fever patient should be tested for COVID-19 infection. But as your RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test is negative, the cause is likely to be a bacterial infection. For symptomatic relief, the medicines you are taking can be continued with caution. Merely taking antipyretics alone will not help. You should be examined by a physician. You also need to do some diagnostic tests like CBC (complete blood count) and test for dengue antibodies to see the level of infection and know if it is bacterial or viral. Currently, dengue cases are also increasing, so it needs to be confirmed. Depending on the results, the physician will suggest broad-spectrum antibiotics to fight the infection. For the cold, you can take tablet Levocetirizine 5 mg every night for four days. Until you visit the physician for fever, you can take tablet Paracetamol every eight hours and take tablet Ranitidine 150 mg twice a day. Make sure you drink a sufficient amount of fluids, lukewarm water and take good rest to get some relief from throat irritation. I hope this helps. Thank you.