Cough, not a disease In fact, when we say cough, it is only a symptom, not a disease. Respiratory infections, allergies, and other factors can cause coughing, and it is a common symptom for children, especially infants and toddlers, or preschoolers. What causes, most often, a cough The most common cause of a cough is upper airway cough syndrome. The upper airway includes the parts of the nose, throat, and pharynx, and it is also common for children to cough after an infection (a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract), in which case many parents will notice that their child will continue to cough more than once. There are two ways to look at a child who has a bad cough. One is a very violent cough, for example, in small infants, including children (preschoolers) due to asthma. The other is when the child has a fairly long cough, including a chronic cough, in which case the child’s parents will find that the cough has lasted for a year, two years or even three years, and the child coughs every day. A child with a long cough may have a post-infectious cough or cough variant asthma. There is also a condition called upper airway cough syndrome, and this would include diseases of the five senses, such as rhinitis, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, and otitis media, which can all be triggers for a child’s cough. Why do children cough more in autumn and winter? Viruses are more prevalent in the fall and winter, and viral and mycoplasma infections increase with the season. For example, the onset of asthma usually occurs in the fall and winter, and the respiratory syncytial virus also happens to be prevalent between November and January, with a high rate of infection, which can cause coughing and wheezing in children. In particular, the incidence of capillary bronchitis is very high among children aged 6 months to 1 year. Some children may also have coughing and wheezing symptoms due to rhinovirus colds. If a child is found to be wheezing abnormally, it may be an adenovirus infection, but the incidence of adenovirus is not very high. Many parents think that if they give their children phlegm remedies or aspirate the phlegm, they will be fine, but where does the phlegm come from? In fact, the phlegm in many children’s coughs comes from the nose. When a child has a cough, parents must pay attention to the child’s nose, whether there is sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, or phlegm, which may be the cause of the cough. Some children who cough and vomit easily may have gastroesophageal reflux, which is the easiest to miss. Doctors abroad are very concerned about this, while in China, due to the lack of detection means, the diagnosis rate is low, but it does not mean that the incidence is low.