Question
My son has been coughing for nearly three months, and it never seems to get better. I’ve given him a lot of medicine and even had him receive intravenous drips, but the cough comes back after a few days. What was the past treatment and its effectiveness? He has a history of eczema, and I want to know what caused it.
Answer
Long-term cough in children is commonly caused by allergic cough (also known as cough variant asthma) and infections by mycoplasma or chlamydia. Since your child had eczema as a child, the possibility of allergic cough is higher. First, you can have blood tests done to check for mycoplasma and chlamydia antibodies to confirm if there is an infection. If diagnosed with an infection, treatment with azithromycin is required for two to four weeks. Secondly, if your child’s age allows, a pulmonary function test can be conducted to confirm whether it is allergic cough.