How to identify protracted bacterial bronchitis from chronic wet cough in children

Abstract

Chronic cough is a very common symptom of children presenting to pediatric practitioners, moreover, chronic wet cough is especially troublesome for children′s health.Since protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) is a common cause of chronic wet cough in children, it is of great importance to timely identify PBB from children with chronic cough.Now, the clinical features and diagnostic clues of PBB, as well as the diagnostic criteria of PBB based on microbiology are introduced; it is also proposed that comprehensive and reliable consultation, detailed physical examination and related laboratory tests are needed when identifying PBB out of children with chronic wet cough.For infants and young children, in particular those with persistent wet cough and without any specific changes of chest radiography and other specific cough pointers (eg, upper airway cough syndrom, cough type asthma, respiratory tract infection with specific pathogen, foreign body), the diagnosis of PBB should be taken into consideration and clinical observation and fo-llow-up are needed to reevaluate. Key words: Chronic wet cough; Child; Protracted bacterial bronchitis; Identify