What Does Persistent Coughing With A Red Tongue Indicate?

Posted on Sat, 24 Sep 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 24 Sep 2016 Answered on

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 Last reviewed on

Question : my husband has pneumonia he is 84yrs old and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks and is getting worse the antibiotics are not working he coughs, moans, and has a red tongue. I think he is dying because the medical team can not tell me what he has. HE just moans and groans and has no fever. He does not cough when he is asleep. should i move him to another hospital?

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
not enough information

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I'm afraid there is not enough information to answer such a question. You're actually asking whether his doctors have done their job adequately or not but besides his symptoms there is no clue as to his current condition like a blood count, inflammatory markers levels (CRP for example), blood or sputum culture results, etc. His red tongue is probably caused - indirectly - by the antibiotics by inducing fungal growth. An antifungal oral gel should suffice to treat his tongue. I can't comment on the rest of his treatment because I don't know what it is or his clinical status!

If you can provide more information then I could be more specific and helpful!

Best wishes for an uneventful recovery!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar