If your child has a cough accompanied by other symptoms like difficulty breathing, a high fever, or chest pain, it's important to take them to the ER. A cough can also signify a more serious underlying condition, so it's always best to err on the side of caution.
Children with RSV typically have two to four days of upper respiratory tract symptoms, such as fever and runny nose/congestion. These are then followed by lower respiratory tract symptoms, like increasing wheezing cough that sounds wet and forceful with increased work breathing.
After an incubation period of 1 to 3 weeks, pertussis infection typically progresses through three distinct stages: the catarrhal phase, the paroxysmal phase, and the convalescent phase.
Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale.
The most obvious sign of a chest infection is a persistent cough, which usually appears after a milder cold or the flu. Coughs caused by chest infections in child patients often sound wet and chesty. Children may also cough up some mucus, which is usually green or yellow in colour.
These four stages of pneumonia are congestion, red hepatization, gray hepatization, and resolution, respectively.
Walking pneumonia is usually diagnosed through a physical examination. The doctor will check your child's breathing and listen for a hallmark crackling sound that often indicates walking pneumonia.
The early symptoms of bronchiolitis are similar to a cold, such as sneezing, a runny or blocked nose, a cough and a slightly high temperature of 38C. A child with bronchiolitis may then get other symptoms, such as: breathing more quickly. finding it difficult to feed or eat.
Your child's cough might sound dry, or it might produce mucus. Your child might also have a runny nose, sore throat or fever as well as a cough. And your child might be short of breath and have some wheezing.
A bronchitis cough sounds like a rattle with a wheezing or whistling sound. As your condition progresses, you will first have a dry cough that can then progress towards coughing up white mucus.
Coughing is a common symptom of all three illnesses, but a specific type of cough indicates pneumonia. A pneumonia-derived cough is persistent, worsening, and classically blood-tinged if bacterial, but viral pneumonia typically causes a nonproductive cough.
The main symptom of bronchitis is a hacking cough. It is likely that your cough will bring up thick yellow-grey mucus (phlegm), although this does not always happen. Other symptoms of bronchitis are similar to those of other infections, such as the common cold or sinusitis, and may include: sore throat.
When your pediatrician listens to your baby's lungs, if they have RSV and bronchiolitis, it actually sounds like Rice Krispies in the lungs; it's just all crackly.
Go to the nearest GP or hospital emergency department if your baby: has difficulty breathing, irregular breaths or fast breathing at rest. cannot feed normally because of coughing or wheezing.
Occasional coughing is normal as it helps clear your throat and airway of germs, mucus and dust. A cough that doesn't go away or comes with other symptoms like shortness of breath, mucus production or bloody phlegm could be the sign of a more serious medical problem.
Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchi, the airways in the lungs and is typically caused by a virus, but it can also be caused by bacteria or a fungus. It is a common infection in children and should be treated by a certified Pediatrician. If left untreated, bronchitis can lead to pneumonia in some cases.
Clap (percuss) your child's chest or back with your cupped hand. This loosens mucus and helps it move. Be sure the area is covered with thin clothing or a cloth.
In nearly all cases, antibiotics should not be used to treat acute bronchitis. That's because most of the infections are caused by viruses. Even children who have been coughing for longer than 8 to 10 days often don't need antibiotics. The goal of treatment is to help ease symptoms.
In children under 5 years of age who have cough and/or difficult breathing, with or without fever, pneumonia is diagnosed by the presence of either fast breathing or lower chest wall indrawing where their chest moves in or retracts during inhalation (in a healthy person, the chest expands during inhalation).
This form of pneumonia is usually mild and feels like a chest cold, but it can get worse. The symptoms of cough, headache, and a low fever start slowly. The infection is usually so mild that your child may walk around with it without knowing they have it. Most children don't get sick enough to be in the hospital.