4 year old PBB

[Hartleyhare1206]

DD has had a cough that started on Mother’s Day and got progressively worse over the subsequent weeks to the point she is now coughing none stop/retching and just miserable. She has had a couple of colds during this time but can blow her nose well and we thought was clearing everything well and therefore would help with the cough/chest side of things. Nope! She has just gotten worse and worse from a coughing point of view. Bright and not too bad in herself - very pale and tired and obviously not sleeping well from the progressively worse wet horrible cough.
She has had inhalers since she turned 2 - brown and blue and neither of these seem to be making a scrap of difference so saw GP today who diagnosed PBB (persistent bacterial bronchitis) as she has had a wet cough for more than 4 weeks (closer to 8 actually!) and prescribed 2 weeks of co-amoxiclav 3 times a day - she had to have a chest X-ray last summer and it was noted that there was scarring of some description in the bronchial tubes - no further action was required at the time but GP says this is relevant now as again, it’s an indicator of PBB.
So; whilst I appreciate I’ve waffled like mad, my question is this: has anyone else children been diagnosed with this? Did the ABs help and how fast? Poor sausage is coughing herself silly again tonight and is so miserable and in her words “sad because of my silly cough making everything rubbish” 😩 will the ABs kick in quickly and give her some respite from this hideous cough?
Feel so helpless that despite doing all the obvious things and using her inhalers she is struggling so much 😔😔
Would be grateful for anyone’s info or experiences. Many thanks xxx
Ps multiple Covid tests during this time to satisfy nursery that whilst it wasn’t a “new cough” that is wasn’t Covid either and all negative)

Shameless bump...DD really struggling - can’t stop coughing at all and is retching and upset. Day or night makes little difference but she has been in bed an hour and has done nothing but cough and cry - can’t get to sleep and had hardly any sleep last night either. Had 5 doses of the co-amoxiclav now and literally no difference whatsoever 😩😩😩

get back onto the doctor , it may have turned into pneumonia
it sounds awful for her poor kid

In the short term please dont hesitate to go back to the doctor.

In more general terms, this was me as a child (only without the inhalers ). I had/have allergic asthma but until this was recognised and my allergens removed from my environment I had chronic asthma leading to persistent bronchitis. So if you havent looked at allergies as something that might underlie your dd's asthma I'd given that some thought. Look at dust mites, mold, pets to start with. Is she worse in pollen season?

Hi! My 8 year old has just came out of 5 days in the high dependency unit from an asthma attack, it was also discovered he has this PBB too and has been given 4 weeks worth of co amoxiclav. He had had a horrible wet cough different from his asthma cough since start of December so it makes sense. My sons oxygen levels dropped to 88% and it took a long time to get them up again.

My daughter was diagnosed with PBB Oct 31st 2021. She's 4 years old and has had the wet cough for 2 years on and off. After she was diagnosed she was given 6 weeks of antibiotics which helped. She was better for 2 months, then has since been poorly. High temp on and off, constantly getting a cold, rattling on her chest too. We tried inhalers and no luck. Will speak to the pediatrician again Monday to see what to do next.

I know this is an old thread but OP if you are still here, I'd really like to know how things are now?

My daughter has just finished a 2 week course of co-amoxiclav for suspected PBB, she's had a cough on and off for months but this last flare up has been about 2-3 months and she keeps getting tonsillitis and ear infections. Since July she's had 10 days of penecillin, 5 days of amoxicillin and now 2 weeks of augmentin and she has been knocked for 6. And the cough is still present.

I'm so worried about her :(

Hi @lollydu
Well we got over the bout I initially posted about but she has been prone to hideous coughs (already has asthma inhalers which seem to make a small amount of difference but nothing extraordinary) every little sniffle turns in to weeks of coughing.
We too had the tonsillitis and ear infection problem - the only positive for us is that after years of fannying around/covid/long waiting lists, she eventually had her tonsils and adenoids out and grommets inserted in the spring.
I’ve no clue whether this will have any impact on the respiratory issues - her asthma nurse seemed hopeful that it would when she was last reviewed by them, but of course I’ll need to wait until autumn/winter most likely to be able to actually answer that.
So sorry to hear your LO is unwell; it’s horrible when they are poorly and you feel like you’re lurching from one illness to the next with very little respite in between. I’m forever trying to do everything in my power to make a positive change - diet, vitamins, Sambucol, lots of fresh air, enough sleep - you make it, I’ve driven myself scatty trying to improve things for her and I have absolutely raging anxiety regarding her health. She only has to sneeze and my stomach lurches and I instantly think “oh shit she is getting a cold” and start catastrophising about the possibility of secondary ear infections/weeks of no sleep because of an evil cough etc. It’s exhausting isn’t it?
What does The GP say about it all? Any chance of an ENT or paediatrics referral?

@Hartleyhare1206

Thank you for responding - I'm sorry to hear you are still struggling with it!

We have been referred to a consultant paediatrician rather than ENT who diagnosed PBB but the co amoxiclav hasn't resolved the cough, seeing him again in a couple of weeks. He said next step is chest x-ray and bloods. We also have an open referral to an ENT that I haven't used yet (thankfully we have private health insurance through my work) but I'm more concerned about the cough as I feel that's the reason why she keeps on with the recurrent infections and that's what the consultant said as well (they are basically flare ups of the same bacteria that's causing the PBB). It makes sense but then why isn't the stronger antibiotic clearing it. It's exhausting - the worry and the going over things in your mind constantly!

I hope your little one improves - hopefully it is something they grow out of xx

co-amoxiclav is excellent stuff - or has been when DD has had it anyway, surprised it hasn’t helped😩
DD had a couple of X rays around 3 ish years old which found some scarring in the bronchial tubes (I think!) GP referred to paediatrics who literally didn’t even see her, just wrote back saying everything was in the realms of normal?!
might it be worth pursuing the ENT option too incase the tonsilitis/adenoids are linked to the coughing. It’s still part of the respiratory system after all so it could be a double whammy if the tonsils are dealt with?
Just a thought and I’m very clearly not a doctor 😂😂🤣🙈

Did the antibiotics ever work for your daughter?

I feel your DD may have had pertussis whooping cough by the way your describing her exasperated coughing fits. I have one daughter with WC and one with PBB, both are distinctively different coughing fits.