A cough with phlegm should be viewed in two ways. A cough with white phlegm is mostly caused by a viral infection or allergy, so it can be treated with anti-viral or anti-allergy medications such as compound amantadine and loratadine. If the cough is yellow, most of the time it is caused by a bacterial infection and may need to be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs. It may also need to be treated with phlegmolytic drugs, such as cephalosporin, amoxicillin or Mucosolvan. If you are allergic to cephalosporin and amoxicillin, you can choose to use azithromycin and levofloxacin, which are also effective. The patient’s symptoms will basically improve greatly in about a week of treatment. In addition, dietary therapy can also be used to relieve the symptoms.