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My baby is coughing… What’s going on? Coughing is a symptom that worries parents very much and is the reason for frequent visits to the doctor’s office.
We do not always remember that coughing is an important mechanism of cleansing the respiratory tract from the residual mucus produced in the bronchi, exfoliated epithelial cells and foreign bodies. The abolition of the cough reflex, which occurs in some neurological or muscle diseases, may even cause serious complications, even leading to the death of the patient.
The cough center located in the brain and receptors – in the larynx, trachea, bronchi, outer ear, ear drum, diaphragm and pleura (serosa covering the lungs and the inner chest wall) are responsible for the occurrence of the cough reflex.
The nature of the cough, its intensity and voicing depend on the child’s age and the location of the lesions. Grunting is a short-term, mild cough. It is caused by chronic inflammation in the nose and back of the throat and is often habitual. Coughing up is a short-lived, repeated one or two tone cough. It is characteristic of inflammation of the nasopharynx or paranasal sinuses.
The most common cough is either “dry” or “wet”. Dry cough, is a “non-productive” cough, tiring, of varying severity and severity of symptoms. It is typical of the initial stage of bronchitis, allergic bronchial edema in asthma, and the presence of a foreign body in the airways. It is common in children. An interview is important in its diagnosis, which allows to exclude an episode of choking while eating or playing as the cause of coughing.
The most characteristic is laryngeal cough barking, typical of subglottic laryngitis. It usually occurs at night, occurs suddenly, interrupts sleep. It is accompanied by shortness of breath, inspiratory wheezing, considerable anxiety of the child.
The so-called bitonal cough is a type of dry cough that consists of two sounds – high and low (rough). It is typical of bronchiolitis and compression of the main bronchus in the course of medical conditions located in the mediastinum (the space in the middle of the chest – between the lungs, in which the trachea, bronchi, major venous vessels and aorta lie).
It is very characteristic cough associated with whooping cough (whooping cough). It consists of 8-10 short staccato sounds (the sound of single beads falling to the floor), accompanied by deep, wheezing breaths, short-term breathlessness, facial flushing, watery eyes, and vomiting with thick, sticky discharge.
Wet cough is a productive cough. It has a varying degree of intensity and sonority, which depends on the amount and density of airway secretions. Older children cough up mucus, while infants and young children swallow it, vomiting it periodically.
Text: lek. med. Grażyna Słodek – pediatrician
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