Can Delaying Treatment of a Child's Cough Turn Cough into Pneumonia?

(2021年04月04日)

In daily life, we can often hear such a sentence: "Take medicine quickly when you cough, don't turn your cough into pneumonia!" In fact, can cough really cause pneumonia?

Is there a causal relationship between the two?

First of all, let's learn about what the essence of cough is.

1. Is Cough a Disease?
Of course not! Cough is just an accompanying symptom of some diseases. It is a protective reflex of the body and a self-protection mechanism for clearing respiratory secretions.

There are many “cough receptors” in the human body, mainly in the respiratory tract, ear, nose, and chest. When they are subjected to certain stimuli, such as sputum, foreign bodies, and irritating gases, they will send signals to our brains, saying "I am so uncomfortable!"

The brain will say "Copy!" Then it will take action to send a "cough" signal to the body and use cough to remove foreign bodies in the respiratory tract.

2. Cough for a Long Time Can Cause Pneumonia?
What? I don't know where the fallacy came from! First of all, we should be clear that pneumonia may cause cough, but cough will not cause pneumonia.

It's true that many children are diagnosed with pneumonia after coughing for a few days. This is because when they cough, they already have a lung infection.

After all, cough is just a protective reflex rather than a cause. What causes the baby to cough?

3. How Do We Distinguish Common Cold Cough and Pneumonia Cough?

It is not difficult to identify them. You can start with "testing, looking, and listening".

1.Test
Most children with pneumonia have a fever, which is more than 38℃ and lasts for more than 2-3 days. If you use antipyretics, the fever can only be temporarily reduced for a while. Children's cold fever is generally below 38℃, which lasts for a short time. The effect of antipyretics is obvious.

2.Looking

You should pay attention to the following aspects.
1) Pay attention to whether children have difficulty in coughing and breathing. Most children with pneumonia have severe cough or asthma, which often causes dyspnea.
2) Pay attention to the diet. When children catch a cold, their diet is normal or they eat less and drink less milk. However, when suffering from pneumonia, the appetite drops significantly. They may do not eat and drink. They often cry because of their difficult breath.
3) Pay attention to sleep. Children sleep normally when they catch a cold. However, when suffering from pneumonia, they may sleep more, wake up easily and love to cry. At night, dyspnea will worsen.

3.Listening

You need to listen to the baby's chest. Children with pneumonia will make "gurgling" sounds at the end of inhalation, which are called tiny blisters. This is an important sign of lung inflammation. Children's colds usually don't sound like this.

4. Do We Need to Take Medicine for Cough?

Don't eat cough medicine indiscriminately. It is important to atomize correctly.

① Baby's use of adult cough medicines (dextromethorphan and codeine) has limited effect. It may even cause side effects, such as addiction, respiratory depression, and even death.

FDA advises children under 4 not to use over-the-counter cough and cold medicines. Britain, Canada, and Australia recommend not using them if the children are under 6 years old.

Children over 6 years old who have a severe cough can use dextromethorphan to relieve cough under the guidance of a doctor.

② There are generally three types of atomized medicines.

Bronchodilator:
It is mainly used to treat an acute attack of bronchial asthma and relieve bronchospasm. Ipratropium bromide and salbutamol are commonly used.

Glucocorticoid:
It has the characteristics of local high efficiency and systemic safety. Budesonide and dexamethasone are commonly used.

Mucolytic Agents:
α-chymotrypsin and ambroxol hydrochloride are commonly used.

Note: In the past, some intravenous drugs such as dexamethasone, aminophylline, and gentamicin were often used as atomization inhalation drugs, which have been gradually eliminated.

Some people may add antibiotics such as gentamicin, which is actually an incorrect treatment.

Atomized drugs should be used under the guidance of doctors.

If it is inconvenient to go to the hospital or you are worried about cross-infection in the hospital, you should atomize at home with Feellife nebulizers and drugs prescribed by doctors during the recovery period of your baby's illness.

5. If Your Baby Doesn’t Need to Take Medicine for a Slight Cough, How Do You Care for Your Baby?

During daily care, you can let your baby drink more warm boiled water or wet the airway with bathroom steam and normal saline atomization. Babies over 1-year-old can also drink honey water to relieve dry cough at night.

If your baby coughs with phlegm, you need to pat its back. Bow your hand so that the palm of your hand is hollow. Use a certain amount of strength and pat it slowly. Don't be too impatient. Don't pat your baby on the back just after it finishes drinking milk.

6. When Should You See a Doctor?

Although we should not give cough medicine to the baby easily, it doesn't mean that we don't have to worry about the baby's cough. It's right to see a doctor in time!

Please see a doctor in time if your baby has the following conditions.

1) Blue lips, pale face, difficulty breathing, fever, and hemoptysis;

2) If babies under three months cough, you need to seek medical advice promptly and be more careful;

3) Poor mental state, refusal to eat, irritability, difficulty falling asleep;

4) Cough is getting more and more serious, severe and lasts for a long time;

5)If you have trouble judging by yourself, it is always right to see a doctor early.

Feellife is a medical equipment company co-operated by LFS and FEELLIFE in the United States.
Feellife ultrasonic nebulizer series products adhere to the concept of high-quality design, from the chip to the appearance of each product, they are carefully crafted from the human-oriented concept. Among them, the ultrasonic nebulizer series products adopt the latest mesh technology, which has the characteristics of small atomized particles, uniformity, and high efficiency. People can quickly, effectively and painlessly treat respiratory diseases anytime and anywhere.

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