What is “cough variant asthma” in children In the pediatric outpatient clinics of hospitals, we encounter children who come to the clinic with cough every day. She has been treated with various antibiotics and cough suppressants, but the effect is not obvious. In the past, these children were often diagnosed as “cold” or “bronchitis”. In recent years, with the continuous development of medical science, scholars at home and abroad have discovered that these children may suffer from allergic cough, clinically known as “cough variant asthma”, which is an insidious asthma with cough as the main clinical manifestation, with a prevalence of about 0.77% to 5.0% in children and about 30% of children with “cough variant asthma”. About 30% of children with “cough variant asthma” can develop into clinically typical bronchial asthma. Current data show that the number of patients with allergic cough in industrialized cities and developed coastal areas is increasing year by year, indicating that the environment has a significant impact on allergic cough. How to diagnose “cough variant asthma” Cough variant asthma, also known as allergic cough, is a specific manifestation of asthma, mainly characterized by persistent or recurrent coughing attacks for more than one month, often accompanied by nocturnal or early morning episodes of coughing, with little sputum, aggravated by exercise, without clinical manifestations of infection, or after prolonged antibiotic treatment is ineffective, and treatment with bronchial Treatment with bronchodilators may relieve coughing attacks, often with personal or family allergies. Cough variant asthma is characterized by: 1. persistent or recurrent cough attacks for more than one month, often occurring at night or with early morning coughing episodes, aggravated by exercise, and low sputum; 2. laboratory or other tests showing no obvious signs of infection or ineffective long-term antibiotic treatment; 3. bronchodilators to reduce the attacks; 4. personal history of allergies, i.e., with eczema, urticaria, allergic rhinitis, etc. 5. Asthma attacks are triggered by exercise, cold air, allergens or viral infections; 6. Asthma is seasonal, mostly in spring and autumn and recurrent; 7. Chest X-ray shows normal or increased lung texture but no other organic changes. 8. The disease is caused by hereditary allergies to the environment. Because of the persistent allergic inflammation in the respiratory tract of children with cough variant asthma, the bronchial epithelium is swollen, making the excitation threshold of the subcutaneous stimulus receptors in the airways lower than normal, so that the induction of various external stimuli is increased and coughing occurs at the slightest stimulus; and the cough is difficult to cure. In clinical practice, cough variant asthma is often misdiagnosed as bronchitis and recurrent respiratory tract infections. In some typical cases, due to unclear diagnosis, antibiotics have been used to treat bacterial infections, and because of unsatisfactory treatment, the use of antibiotics has escalated, affecting the physical and mental health of the child and imposing an economic burden on the family. How to prevent and treat “cough variant asthma” 1. Actively search for allergens. Commonly, they are inhalation of certain plant pollen, house dust, mites, fungal spores, animal dander, fish and shrimp in food or contact with paint and dyes. Observe carefully what factors are present before each coughing attack, find out the allergenic factors, and avoid them to prevent re-exposure. 2. Avoid triggers. There are three possible triggers for cough variant asthma attacks: first, climate change, with winter and spring being the high incidence periods and cold air stimulation being the main trigger, so make sure you keep warm and protect yourself, especially in winter when you go out early in the morning and wear a mask; second, the cough worsens after exercise, so children with this type of asthma should avoid strenuous exercise; third, emotional excitement and crying can also trigger a cough attack, so try to keep the child Keep the child emotionally stable. 3. Enhance the immune function of the body. Cough variant asthma is essentially asthma, and asthma is a metabolic disease, that is, a metabolic reaction caused by abnormal immune function, so attention should be paid to improving and enhancing the immune function of the body. 4. The principles of treating cough variant asthma are the same as asthma, because the pathogenesis is the same as asthma, and there are pathological changes of chronic metabolic inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in the airways, so the longer-term application of controlling drugs – inhaled hormones or leukotriene receptor antagonists – can achieve better results, and the course of treatment can be shorter than the treatment of asthma. Although the anti-inflammatory effect of leukotriene receptor antagonists is not as strong as that of hormones, they can be recommended for children who are reluctant to apply inhaled hormone therapy or who have mild disease, and leukotriene receptor antagonists are now used in children over 2 years of age.