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A 40-year-old man with no underlying lung disease has a 7-day history of cough that is now productive of purulent sputum and mild shortness of breath with exertion. He reports no paroxysms of cough and no contact with ill persons in his community. He does not appear to be in distress. His temperature is 37°C, his pulse 84 beats per minute, and his respiratory rate 17 breaths per minute. On auscultation of the lungs, no rales are heard; scattered wheezes are heard in the lung bases. How should he be evaluated and treated?
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Wenzel et al. (2006) studied this question.
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