COUGH IN CHILDREN: WHAT TO DO? WHEN TO WORRY?

Cough in children: what to do? When to worry?

Cough is one of the most common complaints children suffer. Not only it cause discomfort to the child, it also elicits stress and sleepless nights for their parents.

2 out of every 3-child aged 0 to 4 years visit their paediatricians at least once a year with cough.

Most of the time cough in children are results of acute viral infection and therefore self limiting and benign. Sometime it may be the indicator of a serious underlying problem. Overall most of the time cause is acute viral infection. 10 % of the time it is asthma . 1 to 3% of cases cause is a pneumonia and rest causes are very uncommon.

Cough is divided into acute or chronic depending on the duration of symptom.

Acute cough: less than 2 weeks

Chronic cough: more than 2 to 4 weeks

Most of the time acute cough is due to acute viral infection and they do not need any medication or any investigation. So if the child is active, playful and having undisturbed sleep at night you should not worry.

However if the cough is not decreasing by the 3^rd week and becoming more severe in frequency and intensity, earlier investigation is warranted. 

When to worry?

1. Cough in newborn or small babies
2. Sudden onset cough
3. Chronic cough( i.e. more than 2 weeks)
4. Associated with fever, weight loss, night sweats, blood mixed sputum etc.
5. Cough with feeding
6. Continuous unremitting or worsening cough

What to do?

1. Ensure adequate hydration: give more water

• Saline nasal drops: to unblock the nose as needed

• Don’t give antitussives(cough medicines) on your own: most of the times over the counter antitussive medications are not effective in children.  They can do more harm than good to your child.

• Don’t give antibiotics on your own: which may be harmful .

• Give paracetamol: if associated fever or severe pain in throat

• Consult your doctor : it any of the above mentioned enlisted above in “when to worry” column present

So to conclude: cough in children is a very common symptom and most of the time it is self-limiting and do not need any treatment. You should not worry if your child is active, playful, feeding well, and having undisturbed sleep. But you must visit your pediatrician if any of the “when to worry” symptoms present.

This is part of the Blogchatter initiative #CauseAChatter.

See the other posts here

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• Constipation in children: solution guide to parents
• Leprosy: a curable disease
• Paediatric Food Allergies: What Parents Must Know
• Newborn baby healthy or not? 6 things mother should check

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