Cough

Causes of coughs

There are many causes of coughs in children, including:

• viral infections, like colds and flus 
• bacterial respiratory tract infections, but these are rare
• irritations, like cold air, smoke, pollution or an inhaled foreign object
• allergies and asthma
• psychological reasons – for example, a habit cough.

By far the most common cause of coughing is a viral infection, when the cough usually happens as part of a cold. 

The next most common cause of coughing is asthma.

Other causes of a cough are relatively uncommon.

Cough symptoms

Your child’s cough and any other symptoms will vary according to the cause of the cough.

A cough that follows a cold will typically be loose and sometimes produce mucus. It’s often worse at night. This is because when your child lies down, mucus drips from the back of her nose and mouth into her windpipe. 

An asthma cough is often worse at night and after exercise. Your child might also have a wheeze and breathing difficulties like shortness of breath.

A barking, hoarse cough could mean that your child has croup.

If your child starts coughing suddenly and also wheezing following a choking episode, he might have inhaled a foreign object.

If your child gets bouts of coughing for many weeks, with  ‘whooping’ when she breathes in, and accompanied by redness of face, nausea and vomiting it might be whooping cough.

In an older child or teenage child, a cough might become a habit. Usually these coughs are ‘honking’ coughs and don’t happen when the child is asleep.

When to see your GP about a cough

If your child has one or more of the following symptoms, you should take him to see the GP:

• The cough goes on for longer than two weeks with or without a cold.
• The cough starts suddenly.
• The cough is interfering a lot with your child’s sleep or daily life.
• Your child has any difficulty with breathing.
• Your child has a high fever.
• Your child’s skin changes colour, and turns blue or very pale.

In most cases, your child won’t need to see the doctor if she’s otherwise well except for her cough.

Tests for cough

Most children with coughs don’t need any tests.

The doctor can usually work out the cause of the cough by taking a careful history, and also by examining your child.

The doctor might sometimes order a chest X-ray or blood tests.

Treatment for cough

Most cases of cough do not need any special treatment. 

Most children don’t need antibiotics for a cough. 

If your child’s cough is caused by asthma, it can be treated with anti-asthma medication given by nebulizer or puffer.

Tobacco smoke can make your child’s cough worse, so keep your home smoke-free.

Cough medicines  don’t make any difference to a cough.

Vaporisers and humidifiers don’t make coughing better. Also, young children might accidentally swallow the vaporiser solution (usually containing menthol or eucalyptus) or burn themselves.

Honey might reduce duration of cough, but it you shouldn’t give honey to children younger than 12 months because of the risk of infantile botulism.

Usually a cough following a cold will improve with time, no matter how you treat it.

Cough prevention

If your child’s cough is caused by asthma, you can usually prevent it with appropriate treatment.

Wooping cough is largely prevented by routine vaccinations!

You should minimise the risk of inhaling foreign objects by not letting toddlers and infants eat whole nuts or play with small objects that they can easily inhale.

Unfortunately, you can’t prevent a cough caused by a viral infection.