Kids - Cough 2

 Causes of cough can include:

• Cold viruses often causes a postnasal drip and that causes a cough. This is the most common cause for a cough.
• Croup is characterized by a barking, "seal-like" cough caused by a virus.
• Pneumonia, which is an infection in the lungs. It may be caused by viruses or bacteria. There is also an unusual organism called mycoplasma, which causes the classic "walking pneumonia". Children with pneumonia can barely appear sick with low-grade fever and a mild cough or be very ill with high fevers and labored breathing.
• Asthma may cause coughing and wheezing.  This may be triggered by viruses, exercise or an allergic trigger like dust, smoke, mold or pets.
• Foreign body aspiration should be suspected if there is a history of a coughing or choking episode with eating, especially with small hard foods like nuts or popcorn.
• Sinusitis may cause a cough especially at night or in the mornings.  (See colds for information on sinusitis).
• "Spitting up" or gastroesophageal reflux in babies under a year may trigger coughing because of small amounts of aspiration of food into the lungs. Wheezing or recurrent pneumonia may be associated with reflux.
• Pertussis or whooping cough is an infection that is characterized by a severe cough where the child has difficulty catching his breath with the coughing episodes and may turn blue with coughing.
• Bronchitis is a debated issue in pediatrics. Some researchers feel that children don’t really develop true bronchitis. The very deep cough, "bronchitis type cough" is sometimes from a postnasal drip or may be due to pneumonia.