Coughing may lead to other ailments

Dear Dr. Donya,

My two-year-and-10-month-old son has suffered from a cough since Sept. 3. His pediatrician has provided him with a few brands of cough mixture to reduce phlegm. According to the doctor, my son has been infected by an airborne virus. Now he has a mild cough, mostly at night when he is asleep. The cough is never really gone. He has no other symptoms, such as flu, fever or sore throat.

I am very concerned about his health. Could you please address the following questions:

1. Can you advise me on what to do now, considering that we have visited our pediatrician three times and his observation has remained the same. This is the first time my son has suffered from a cough for so long.

2. Are there any side-effects for children taking cough medicines over a long period of time?

3. Is it true that cough mixtures that claim to reduce phlegm only increase saliva, thus, making the child cough more?

4. How can the doctor tell whether the cough has been caused by a bacteria or a virus? Can a test be done? Is it available here? -- Patricia

Dear Patricia,

Your son has had a cough for two-and-a-half months, no fever, no other symptoms and he only coughs during the night.

Did his doctor ask him to take the cough mixture before bedtime? Does he go to school? The other common cause of his symptoms could be repeated infection from the other children that he plays with. Does anybody else in the house suffer from a similar problem?

Cough medication helps the body get rid of phlegm faster by making it looser so that he can cough it out. Mostly all cough medications work the same, but some of them are mixed with a bronchodilator and some of them even mixed with a cough suppressant.

My best guess is that your son is allergic to something, or his airways are hypersensitive, which could cause him to cough at night or have sinus problems. Does he complain of congestion or headaches? Does he have bad breathe or makes sounds through his nose when he breathes?

It may be worth seeing a pediatric allergist. --Dr Donya