[Etiology of chronic cough in children: analysis of 100 cases]

In order to understand the epidemiological aspects of chronic cough, we analysed 100 patients' files referred for chronic cough in five pediatric-pulmonology consultations. The patients had a chronic cough for more than 3 weeks. The distribution of causes was: asthma, 56%; upper airway disorders, 16%; psychogenic, 4%; whooping cough, 4%; Mycoplasma pneumoniae pulmonary infection, 3%; Chlamydia pneumoniae pulmonary infection, 1%; bronchiectasis, 1%. In 15% of cases two or more causes were associated; In most cases, the clinical characteristics of the cough are evident enough to establish a diagnosis with few secondary explorations. The prognosis is on the whole favourable.