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Abstract: This 5-year-old child was brought to the outpatient clinic by his parents, who said that the child often had a cough, mainly in the morning when he woke up and at night, and usually he would cough more when he ran to the outdoor park. The parents said that they had previously done allergy testing and had pollen and dust mite allergies. After examination, she was diagnosed with pediatric allergic cough. After taking oral anti-allergy medication, her cough symptoms improved significantly and her diet and sleep status returned to normal.
Basic information】Female, 5 years old
Type of disease】Pediatric cough
Hospital】Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital
Date of Consultation】October 2021
Treatment plan】Oral medication (Guaimei methomin syrup, procaterol hydrochloride oral solution)
Treatment Period】1 week of treatment
Effectiveness】Cough symptoms improved significantly, normal diet and sleep status
I. Initial consultation
The child is 5 years old, and her parents said that she has always had coughing symptoms, basically every day, but the severity of her coughing symptoms does not change much, but she coughs more in spring and autumn, and she coughs more every day in the morning after she wakes up and at night when she goes to bed. After returning from a recent trip to the park, his cough became more and more severe. At first, his parents thought it was a cold, but after taking medication, the cough did not significantly relieve, so he came to the hospital for a closer examination. On examination: no special cardiopulmonary auscultation, light breath sounds on lung auscultation, no rales were heard, and the throat was slightly red and swollen. The parents said that they had an allergen test last year, which indicated allergy to pollen and dust mites, so the diagnosis was pediatric allergic cough.
II. Treatment history
The principle of allergic cough is that allergic substances invade the respiratory mucosa, resulting in airway hyperreactivity, leading to spasmodic coughing and increased mucus secretion. Therefore, the child was given an oral solution of procaterol hydrochloride and an oral anti-allergy syrup of Guaimei methamphetamine, and the child and parents were instructed to avoid as much as possible those occasions in life that can cause allergic reactions, such as parks, gardens and zoos.
Treatment effect
The child went home and standardized the use of medication and paid more attention to her diet. In the recent stage, she tried to eat as light and simple as possible, and ate as little as possible some foods that are allergy-prone in the broad sense. At the same time, she did not go to kindergarten recently and tried to rest at home as much as possible. She also did a thorough cleaning of the corners of the house where dust tends to accumulate. Later, the child’s cough symptoms improved significantly, and he did not sneeze, have a runny nose or an itchy nose, and his sleep quality also improved significantly.
IV. Notes
I am glad that after medication and life intervention, the child’s disease was controlled. Getting rid of allergens is the best way to prevent allergic cough. Therefore, parents should let the affected child avoid contact with pollen, dust mites and small animals to avoid causing allergic cough again. If your child has a cough, go to the hospital for an examination to rule out respiratory infections. If the cough is severe, a chest X-ray is needed to rule out bronchitis or pneumonia, etc. Don’t give your child medication on your own to avoid delaying the condition. Wear a mask when you go out, especially during the spring season, so that you can effectively avoid exposure to pollen.
V. Personal insights
There are many reasons for recurrent coughs in children. Many parents, like the parents of the child in this article, think that their child’s cough is a cold, so they are very aggressive in treating it with various types of antibiotics, but sometimes a recurrent cough for a long time may not necessarily be due to an infection. If there is an infectious cough, the cough will usually get worse and some may even have wheezing or fever before targeted antibiotics are administered. In the case of allergic cough, the severity of the cough is usually about the same every day, so parents are advised to visit the hospital promptly when their child has a recurrent cough to find the cause and treat the problem to avoid delays.