Can anyone reassure me about causes of repeat chest infections?

[strawberrycornetto]

Hello. My DS is 14 months old. He's always been quite small - at one point 0.4 centile. Since October he has had bronchiolitis twice, pneumonia twice, and two other chest infections. He also seems to suffer a lot with stomach bugs.

We are under a paediatric respiratory doctor. He was prescribed singulair in January and since then hadn't had a chest infection. We were advised to stop it to see if he was now ok, but within a week he has developed another chest infection.

I just wondered if anyone could give me any ideas about what could be causing this? I am thinking possibly asthma (although he has ventolin which seems to make no difference). I have been terribly worried he could have cystic fibrosis. He did have the heel prick test - does anyone know if its reliable (he was 3 weeks early). My GP said he had considered CF and ruled it out because although he does have symptoms which point to it, he doesn't have others.

Has anyone's DC had similar issues? I am just so worried about him.

strawberry, not much help but wanted to answer and bump for you....also to add that bronchiolitis very commonly leaves LOs prone to chest infections for a year or two: I was told this over and over again by medics, nurses, friends when dd2 had bronchiolitis at 4 weeks old. She was lucky and didn't, but a little friend of hers who had it at almost the same time, has had loads of chest infections since - and he's otherwise perfectly healthy.

Hope you get some answers, and some reassurance, soon

The Guthrie test doesn't routinely screen for CF in all areas of England. Have you asked his respiratory doctor to run a sweat test for CF? My children had lots of chest infections, they are asthmatics. DD doesn't respond well to ventolin either but does respond well to Singulair DS didn't respond to Singulair at all.

strawberrycornetto - No answers for you but sending you lots of hugs to you from another mum who is suffering watching her little one suffer from a chest infection and just cannot imagine how worried you must be having your DS suffer repeated chest infections.

hi, if I were you I would ask your GP to refer you for a sweat test so that they can definitely rule out CF. It is possible to have a false negative from the heel prick test but the sweat test is generally considered to be a good indicator. Each individual with CF is completely unique and not all display the same symptons so I'm glad your GP has considered it but disappointed that he hasn't asked for further tests to rule it out

I'm not trying to suggest that your DS has CF, but... if he does then the earlier he is treated for it the better and the less permanent damage he is likely to have to his lungs.

My DD (just turned 2) has CF but was born with a bowel blockage as a complication of it and needed surgery and spent nearly 2 months in hospital after birth so we were told very early on. But, the advantage of that is she gets all the right treatment and now is bigger than her (7 months older) cousin, she can outrun her, out jump her and has bundles more energy.

Yes, a CF diagnosis is devastating but the future is a lot brighter than ever before and with the right treatment, your DS should hopefully start to put weight on and kick those chest infections into touch

good luck

My DS has had a chest infection for every month of his life( he is now 3.2)
He was diagnosed with asthma at 15 months and was on flixotide, which did not make much difference.
He then went onto singulair which reduced his asthma symptoms, but like your DS once reduced the infections returned.
He was always very snotty and snored lots, we were referred to ENT, and 4 months ago he had his adenoids removed and grommets inserted( also had a significant hearing loss, not that I had noticed)

Since then he is down to one puff am and pm on the flixotide, singulair has gone. and only one Chest infection in 4 months

It has been amazing for him

Thank you all for the replies. We are due to see the paed this week because of the latest infection. I feel a bit embarrassed to ask about conditions - like they will think I am a paranoid mum who has been googling medical conditions (ok, this is true ). I think I would like to ask though, when I read info on the CF Trust website, the lung and digestive issues seemed very like DS. It is strange to find myself hoping he has asthma!

Does anything else cause chest infections?

strawberry, don't feel embarrassed. In all my dealings with drs (and in 2 years I've had a few!) I've come across the attitude from a lot of them that a 'mother knows best'. Nobody can know their child as well as you and if you feel that something is wrong then you are right to push for a diagnosis. It is only natural to search around for ideas and whilst some professionals may feel you are over reacting or treading on their toes, you have every right to keep on at them until you are happy with the outcome.

as to what might cause chest infections I can't really help I'm afraid (I know what some of the causes can be for someone with CF) but I've also heard that if you've had bronchiolitis once then you are more prone to picking up other infections, just as others have said.

good luck with the paed appointment and please let us know how it goes

Hi, thanks for the replies. Sorry I've not been able to get back on this week. Sooty, DH was allergic to dairy and still doesn't tolerate it so he has special formula and nothing else at the moment.

I ended up taking him to casualty on Sunday because his chest got so bad. Luckily the antibiotics are working now. Anyway, we are off to the consultant tomorrow so I am hoping he will do some further investigations. Seeing my little man so sick is making me really stressed and sad.