Children with cough

Most children with a cough have recurrent acute viral bronchitis or asthma. For both, the natural history is progressive improvement through childhood. An unrelenting cough with purulent sputum suggests suppurative lung disease and must not be dismissed lightly. In most cases the cause of cough can be determined by careful clinical history, physical examination and chest X-ray. Other laboratory investigations can be useful when underlying asthma is suspected.