spray them with roundup, before they multiply! W

Good points.
One problem that some people can have is that the indoor temperature is kept
too warm.
I think nose hairs are supposed to screen some of bacteria out but they
"paralyze" if too dried out and don't work well.

Believe this or not
http://www.nethealthbook.com/nasaldischargewithpus.html
Nasal discharge with pus
(rhinosinusitis)

It has been assumed that a pussy discharge would always be bacterial and a more
watery nasal discharge viral. Studies have shown a different picture. Many times
severe acute rhinitis that obviously is infectious, is actually viral when
evidence based medical studies are done. Ref. 3 give an overview from a group of
emergency medicine physicians who have reviewed the evidence based literature.

First they found that isolated rhinitis and sinusitis does not exist. Any upper
respiratory infection starts in the nose and simultaneously affects the sinuses
as well, but the sinuses are only really sympotomatic in the moderate and more
severe forms of the rhinosinusitis (that's the name they used in this article).

Pussy rhinitis or rhinosinusitis is one of the 10 most common diagnoses in the
office setting. 25 million Americans in the U.S. see their physician at he
office every year. Patients call any nose infection that leads to facial
fullness and a plugged up feeling "sinusitis". Physicians call "sinusitis" the
condition that leads to an accumulation of secretions ("purulent effusion") in
the sinus cavity with upper toothache on one side only or extreme one-sided
facial pain with a high fever.

This latter more narrow definition of sinusitis has a higher likelihood of being
the bacterial sinusitis as dealt with under sinusitis. All other cases of pussy
nasal discharge from both nostrils, particularly within the first 7 days of a
cold or rhinosinusitis is usually viral when the appropriate viral studies are
done and sinus punctures with cultures were done in evidence based trials
(reviewed in Ref. 3).

Only less than 2% of all viral upper respiratory tract infections are
complicated by bacterial rhinosinusitis! As most people do not see their
physician about every cold, only 15% are seen in doctors' offices or
walk-in-clinics. According to Ref.3, if all patients with bacterial infections
were seeing their physicians only about 13% of patients seen by the physician
should receive antibiotic treatment. However, close to 100% of those patients
receive antibiotic therapy. This has created the problem of resistant bacterial
strains as bacteria learn how to chew up antibiotics, if they are exposed long
enough.

Symptoms:

So, who should get antibiotics? Only those how have a high probability of having
true bacterial rhinosinusitis. I have summarized the answer to this question
from data provided in Ref.3 for you in this table

Who should get antibiotics?
Bacterial rhinosinusitis symptoms:
Comments:

pussy discharge from only one nostril
viral infection mostly in both nostrils
gnawing pain in cheek bone on one side          usually associated with pus in
maxillary sinus cavity
upper toothache on one side                                        irritation of
nerve root from sinusitis infection
one sided facial pain present more than 10 days into cold  most viral infections
heal within 10 to 14 days
CT scan, ultrasound or plain X-rays show sinus fluid level  infection
accumulates secretions in sinuses, but viruses can cause this too

high fever restarts after a period of normal temperature    the second fever
usually indicates the start of the bacterial superinfection

poor response to decongestants (Sinutab etc.)      bacterial superinfection
leads to swelling of mucous membranes and blockage

However, if three of the symptoms listed in the table above are positive at
7days, there is a probability of 80 to 90% that the diagnosis of bacterial
rhinosinusitis is correct. For this condition antibiotic therapy is reasonable.
However, as mentioned above, this would only be for about 2% of the total cold
population (about 13 to 15% of the population seen by the physician). If in
doubt at 7 days into the cold, a nasal swab could be taken to see if pathogenic
bacteria can be isolated in the laboratory.

Treatment:

The vast majority of patients who do not fulfil the criteria above would simply
inhale with hot steam as described under sinusitis to moisturize the airways and
facilitate a spontaneous recovery from the illness.

Otrivin nasal solution is also a useful measure to keep the nasal passages open.
The other 2 to 3% of the total cold population would need amoxicillin, or if the
bactrium is resistant in the region where the patient lives (or based on proven
culture and sensitivity testing) another antibiotic would be prescribed by the
physician. Placebo studies have shown that those who do not get antibiotics have
a recovery rate of about 56%, whereas those on amoxicillin for 10 days had a
response rate of about 89%, only a 35% advantage. This is due to a dilution
factor, because a large portion of the study was likely still viral in origin
(Ref.3), hence the good response in the placebo group.

Disclaimer:

This outline is only a teaching aid to patients and should stimulate you to ask
the right questions when seeing your doctor. However, the responsibility of
treatment stays in the hands of your doctor and you.

References:

1. James Chin et al., Editors: Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, 17th
edition, 2000, American Public Health Association.
2. Behrman: Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 16th ed., 2000, W. B. Saunders
Company
3. J M Hickner et al. Ann Emerg Med 37(6): 703-710. June 2001.
4. Noble: Textbook of Primary Care Medicine, 3rd ed.,2001 Mosby, Inc.
5. Abeloff: Clinical Oncology, 2nd ed.,2000,Churchill Livingstone, Inc.
6. Ferri: Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment, 2004 ed.,
Copyright © 2004 Mosby, Inc.
7. Rakel: Conn's Current Therapy 2004, 56th ed., Copyright © 2004 Elsevier

BJ got chest infection after being in warmer temps owever, where she was has
better air quality. (because of low population (one place) and winds/coast
(other place).

They're telling us that too many asthmatics are dying in Southern Ontario.
Environmental. Air quality is moderate (some bad days) in winter.
Awful in summer (many bad air days)

J