Some doctors say it’s an upper respiratory tract infection, while others say it’s bronchitis, but even after taking a lot of medicine, it doesn’t work, and I can’t take care of it. Could the child’s lungs be damaged by such a prolonged cough? Many children come to pediatric clinics with chronic coughs. The younger ones are only one or two years old, while the older ones are in their teens. Because of the long cough, parents are often very anxious and take their children to the doctor. Despite the use of various antibiotics and cough medicines, the cough continues to recur and persist. In fact, chronic cough in children can be completely cured if the cause is found and active treatment measures are taken. Pan Yueli, Department of Pediatrics, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Coughing itself is a protective reflex action that is beneficial to the body. It can help expel foreign bodies and protect the airways, but it also has many adverse effects, such as affecting sleep, consuming physical energy, and in severe cases, triggering pneumothorax, emphysema and bronchiectasis. There are many causes of cough, and bacterial and viral infections are the main causes of cough in children. However, recent studies have found that some chronic coughs are not caused by bacteria or viruses, but by allergies. This type of cough is known medically as allergic cough. Allergic cough is a persistent inflammatory response to an antigenic or non-antigenic stimulus, and patients often have a persistent or recurrent cough. If this allergic cough is not diagnosed and treated aggressively, some patients may develop asthma symptoms or even develop asthma. Therefore, another name for allergic cough is also called cough variant asthma. Some statistics show that 30% – 40% of allergic coughs can develop into asthma. Therefore, some chronic coughs should not yet be taken lightly. Allergic cough is most often seen in children with allergic constitution. These children often have heavy eczema in infancy, usually like to rub their eyes and nose, are easily allergic to some foods or medications, and often have allergic diseases in their immediate family, such as allergic rhinitis and asthma. Since the bronchial mucosa of the affected child is in a highly sensitive state, external stimuli such as respiratory infections, irritating gases, dust, cold air, certain foods, etc. can cause allergic cough. The disease can occur in children of any age and has no obvious seasonality. The basic features are a recurrent cough that lasts for more than a month, is worse at night and in the morning, and is aggravated by movement or crying. Most children have an irritating dry cough that can be accompanied by sputum. When the cough is severe, wheezing sounds can sometimes be heard in the lungs, but it can also be without any abnormal signs, and there are no obvious signs of infection on a chest X-ray or radiograph of the lungs. Another characteristic is that long-term antibiotic therapy is not effective, while wheezing and anti-allergy medications stop the cough. To diagnose allergic cough, in addition to the above-mentioned features, the child often has a positive allergen skin test and elevated immunoglobulin E in the blood can be used as an auxiliary condition, while other organic diseases must be ruled out by the physician before the diagnosis can be confirmed. Since allergic cough is a potential form of asthma in children, early detection and appropriate anti-allergy treatment will help prevent the onset of asthma. For the treatment of allergic cough, Western medicines such as albuterol, polycamcinolone, fenagan and ketotilol can be used under the guidance of a doctor, or Chinese medicine can be used. It has been proven that Chinese medicine has relative advantages in the treatment of this disease, as it can combine both primary and secondary treatment and prevention, while avoiding the side effects associated with long-term use of Western medicine. Repeated or prolonged coughing in children tends to consume qi and injure yin. Therefore, the basic treatment principle for allergic cough is to benefit qi and nourish yin, moisten the lung and stop coughing, and the formula is Sha Shen Mai Dong Tang and Ginseng Wu Wei Zi Tang with addition and subtraction. However, Chinese medicine believes that “all five viscera and six internal organs can cause cough, not only the lungs”. Although cough is mainly located in the lungs, it is closely related to other internal organs, and great emphasis is placed on identification. In particular, children with allergic cough often show an impatient temper, sweating and fear of heat, and a thick, greasy tongue coating, showing signs of liver fire and food accumulation, so products that calm the liver and relieve fire and eliminate food accumulation are often added. In addition, food therapy can be helpful for allergic cough. The following methods are simple and easy to use and can be used frequently: 1. 50-100 grams of fresh lilies and the right amount of rock sugar in a decoction. 2. 2-3 white fungus, appropriate amount of rock sugar, decoction for consumption. 3.Sweet almond fried, chew 3-5 pieces in the morning and evening, or add sugar appropriate amount of pounding, boiled water to serve. 4, 1 pear, Chuanbei 1-3 grams, add the right amount of rock sugar, boil and eat. Diet and daily care are also very important for the prevention and treatment of allergic cough. Parents should pay attention to the nutritional balance of the affected child and add appropriate foods that nourish Yin and clear heat and moisten the lungs, such as tofu, duck, lotus root, white radish and water chestnuts, and eat less fried, spicy, raw and cold, seafood and other things. To add and remove clothes and blankets in time, try to avoid staying in air-conditioned rooms for a long time, and do not keep pets at home, do not lay carpets. At the same time, avoid over-emotional children, as crying and laughing can aggravate a cough.