A cold or the flu runs its course in a couple weeks, if youre lucky. After that, youre back to normal. But sometimes you may get bronchitis, too.Thats when your bronchial tubes, which carry air to your lungs, get infected and swollen. You end up with a nagging cough and a lot more mucus.You can get bronchitis in other ways, too, and there are actually two types of it:Acute bronchitis: This is the more common one. Symptoms last for a few weeks, but it doesnt usually cause any problems past that.Chronic bronchitis: This one is more serious, in that it keeps coming back or doesnt go away at all. Its one of the conditions that makes up what's called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease