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Like with green snot, yellow snot is the collection of defensive white blood cell secretions. Generally, the greener the color, the more cells required for defense. The yellower, the fewer.
"You can have bright yellow, dark green mucus, even with viruses." Pink or red. This typically means there's blood in your mucus, Elliott says, "usually because the nasal passages are too dry and ...
Having green, yellow, or thickened phlegm (sputum) does not always indicate the presence of an infection. Also, if an infection is present, the color of the phlegm (sputum) does not determine whether a virus, a bacterium or another pathogen has caused it. Simple allergies can also cause changes in the color of the mucus. [1]
Phlegm is more related to disease than mucus, and can be troublesome for the individual to excrete from the body. Phlegm is a thick secretion in the airway during disease and inflammation. Phlegm usually contains mucus with virus, bacteria, other debris, and sloughed-off inflammatory cells.
If you experience difficulty breathing, develop a severe cough, notice thick green or yellow mucus, run a fever, and/or feel extremely fatigued. If your symptoms worsen instead of improve over time.
The green color of mucus comes from the heme group in the iron-containing enzyme myeloperoxidase secreted by white blood cells as a cytotoxic defense during a respiratory burst. In the case of bacterial infection, the bacterium becomes trapped in already-clogged sinuses , breeding in the moist, nutrient-rich environment.
The green color contributed to its outdated name verdoperoxidase. Myeloperoxidase is found in many different organisms including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. [ citation needed ] Myeloperoxidase deficiency is a well-documented disease among humans resulting in impaired immune function.
Pus is sometimes green because of the presence of myeloperoxidase, an intensely green antibacterial protein produced by some types of white blood cells. Green, foul-smelling pus is found in certain infections of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The greenish color is a result of the bacterial pigment pyocyanin that it produces.