Dr. Lynn Cates
Specializing in pediatric infectious diseases and childhood immunizations.
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 Ask Dr. Cates
Prolonged Cough in a 10-Year-Old | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Cates,
My 10-year-old daughter is coughing for already six weeks. It started as occasional dry persistent coughs, then she started to develop a low fever. After the fever was gone, she has had cough spells especially at night. She spits mucus. When she coughs, she has a funny noise sound like a whistle. Once she almost threw up during these coughs. I brought her to her doctor. The doctor said it's a common cold and prescribed a cough medicine (lemonade tasting pills in water to drink). When I gave her that anti-cough medicine, it got better, but after the effect wore off, the coughing returned. What can I do for her? — Worried Mom in Brooklyn | | | ANSWER |
July 22, 2002 | | | Dear Worried Mom,
Your daughter (and you!) must be pretty miserable after having coughed for so long. I can't tell you exactly what's going on without examining her, and probably doing some tests, but after six weeks, this is no longer a "common cold," even if that is how it started. There are literally dozens of things that can cause this problem, including whooping cough (also known as pertussis), "walking pneumonia" caused by a germ called mycoplasma, many other kinds of infections, aspiration of a foreign body into the lungs (e.g., inhaling a small object like a peanut), or asthma. Some of these conditions respond to specific treatment, and others go away by themselves over time.
You'll be happy to hear that even after prolonged coughs like this, most children eventually will be fine. However, until her coughing stops, you need to have her checked regularly to be sure that something more serious isn't going on. You didn't mention whether or not she looked sick, but the urgency of having her re-checked depends on how sick she looks and how much this coughing is interfering with her normal activities (e.g., is she still able to go to school?). I hope she gets better soon! — by Lynn Cates, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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