Question
A nearly eleven-month-old male infant (over 25 pounds in weight) has experienced coughing. A stethoscope examination revealed the presence of phlegm, but the lung condition was good. However, the baby has recently started coughing again, with symptoms including: 1. Clear nasal discharge and sneezing began on the 16th. 2. Coughing started on the 17th, with the mucus becoming thick, and on the 18th, symptoms worsened with a noticeable amount of phlegm in the throat but unable to cough it out. 3. The baby took “Children’s Lung Nourishing Pill” and “Children’s Dextromethorphan Drops” at night, and by the 20th, symptoms were mostly relieved. 4. From the 20th to the 28th, there were no symptoms at all. 5. The breastfeeding mother has had a cold with coughing since the 20th, and the baby started to show the aforementioned symptoms on the 28th, with continuous coughing and phlegm in the nose and throat.
Answer
Coughing is a defensive response to clear foreign bodies from the respiratory tract. Mild coughing is harmless to the body and can be treated by eliminating the cause without the need for cough suppressants. However, when coughing is severe, appropriate cough suppressants can be chosen based on symptoms. There are many causes of coughing, including acute or chronic inflammation of the respiratory tract, foreign bodies, pressure, allergic reactions, and pleural irritation. Therefore, when a patient coughs, it is first necessary to fully assess the condition, identify the cause, and choose appropriate cough suppressants for symptomatic treatment on the basis of treating the cause of the illness. Medications for treating coughs are mainly categorized into three types: cough suppressants (including codeine, morphine, and codiene), expectorants (such as myrrh oil and ammonium chloride), and bronchodilators. Cough suppressants are suitable for mild inflammation-induced dry coughs; expectorants help loosen phlegm.