Causes
In principle, coughing is a useful reaction of the body. It is a reflex that occurs when substances have entered the airways that cannot be removed by the cilia on the mucosal cells and thus hinder breathing. These substances can be mucus, food residues or inhaled foreign bodies.
The most common expression of a respiratory infection in small children is coughing. There are almost 200 pathogens that can cause coughing. Some other diseases associated with coughing include bronchitis (acute or chronic), bronchiolitis, pneumonia, (pseudo-)croup and many others, which are associated with increased mucus production, among other things.
Then the cough is usually dry at first, but in the course of the infection it becomes moist. Asthma or dry room air can also lead to coughing, especially at night. Nowadays, it is rare for a baby’s cough to be caused by whooping cough.
It is also called diphtheria disease. This is a bacterial infection against which vaccination is standard in Germany. Therefore it hardly occurs nowadays.
This disease typically causes a barking cough, the voice becomes hoarse and the cry is often stuck in the children’s throat, so to speak. In addition, the lymph nodes in the neck area are severely swollen, which is also known as “Caesar’s neck”. Diphtheria can also lead to inflammation of the heart muscle, paralysis and kidney damage and must therefore be treated as soon as possible.
There is an effective medication for this purpose, which as an antitoxin fights the toxic substances of the bacteria and thus reduces the spread. The typical irritable cough in babies occurs mainly at night and is intensified by lying flat in bed. The irritable cough can be caused by various factors.
It is important to pay attention to a possible allergic asthma and to recognize this. If the chesty cough occurs in connection with contact with certain substances, such as animal hair and pollen, or in cold weather, this can be a sign of asthma. This should be clarified by a physician, and various allergy tests are usually carried out.
The irritable cough can also be caused by another allergic reaction, for example to food, such as peanuts. But flu-like infections can also lead to a chesty cough. Here the babies usually also have headaches, rhinitis and fever.
If there is a rapid and significant increase in temperature, a doctor should always be consulted. If the cough occurs in the baby only while sleeping, this can be a sign of a so-called pseudocroup. Nowadays one speaks of the pseudo croup syndrome, under which different diseases are summarized.
It always leads to a narrowing of the airways, especially in the area of the pharynx and larynx. This occurs above all from the 2nd month of life and can be observed especially in boys and in winter months. If breathing difficulties occur, a doctor should be consulted immediately.
