Dry Cough with blood and weakness

Dear Ask The Doctor: I have a dry cough, have been coughing up a small amount of blood, no energy, sore throat. Is this viral or is it somthing that needs antibiotics?

Dear Ruth: A number of disease conditions make you cough up blood. These include chest infections, bronchitis, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, pulmonary edema, pulmonary hypertension and in rare cases lung cancer. If cough suppressants don't resolve your symptoms, you may need to consult your family doctor for further investigations. A complete blood count, chext x-ray, chest CT, bronchoscopy and sputum smear and culture may help in the diagnosis.