Pediatric cough

Cough is a common and complex defensive reflex activity of the respiratory system that helps the body clear foreign bodies or mucus from the lungs and airways. There are many causes of cough, and inflammation, foreign bodies, physical or chemical irritation of the respiratory tract and pleura can all cause coughing. Pediatric cough is not a miniature version of adult cough, and has its own unique etiological characteristics. Acute cough in children is often caused by respiratory viral infections. The top three causes of chronic cough in children are cough variant asthma, upper airway cough syndrome, and post-respiratory infection cough. Frequent coughing can adversely affect children's learning, work, and rest, increase their anxiety, and is detrimental to their physical and mental health, requiring timely and reasonable intervention measures from doctors and parents. According to the condition, pediatric cough can be divided into the following three categories: Acute cough: Refers to a cough lasting less than 2 weeks, mostly occurring in upper and lower respiratory tract infections caused by various microorganisms and acute exacerbations of asthma. Protracted (or subacute) cough: Refers to a cough lasting more than 2 weeks but less than 4 weeks. In addition to respiratory infections, it can also occur in bacterial sinusitis and asthma. Chronic cough: Refers to a cough lasting more than 4 weeks.