Patient's question:
My daughter is 6 years old and has been coughing for about 15-20 consecutive days. No matter what, it doesn't seem to get better. She coughs about 5 or 6 times a day. It doesn't sound too severe—each cough is only 2 or 3 times—but it happens every day, and it sounds like there's phlegm.Previous Treatment and Effect:
A few weeks ago, I had a mycoplasma infection and received intravenous drips for 6 days. On the 3rd or 4th day, my daughter started coughing too. Coincidentally, I gave her the medicine prescribed to me (azithromycin). After taking it, her coughing didn't get much worse, but it didn't completely go away either. I gave her the medicine because last year, I also had a mycoplasma infection, and she got infected as well.
Type of Help Needed:
How can I make her stop coughing? Whether it's medication or anything else, I'm open to suggestions.
Doctor's answer:
Cough is an important defensive mechanism of the human body. Secretions and inflammatory substances in the trachea can be expelled from the body through coughing. The recurrence of cough symptoms indicates that the body may be in a pathological state. Chronic cough generally refers to coughing that persists for more than 3 weeks and frequently bothers children and their parents. Since coughing often recurs at night or in the morning and is usually absent or minimal during the day, parents may easily assume it is caused by a cold or fever and may not take it seriously, leading them to indiscriminately use antibiotics and cough suppressants for their children. In reality, the children suffer from allergic cough, also known as variant asthma. Over time, the condition can develop into typical bronchial asthma. Therefore, it is crucial to promptly diagnose and implement standardized treatment.