What exactly is a new continuous cough?

[Thenagainmaybenot]

Very silly question but I am not exactly sure what a 'continuous cough ' means.

Clearly if I cough once or twice because I have choked on something that is not an issue. But if I cough for any 'illness' reason, that is a new cough. So what does the 'continous' mean? Does it mean 'I have a cough throughout the day' or 'I cough for 10 minutes at a time' or what?

Just to be clear, I don't have a cough at the minute. All 3 children did last week, and I took them to be tested, and they were negative.

But is there any sort of cough (choking issues aside) which does not need a test?

*assumed it

My Covid cough was pretty short lived and lasted for an hour in total one afternoon. It was dry and repetitive. Properly coughed very 5-10 mins for 30secs max then it totally disappeared but I never cough so knew it was it. Woke up with a temperature the next day and felt like crap.

I find the advice re coughs stressful. With a temperature or lack of sense of smell/taste it is v clear if you have either. DD2 currently got a bad cold - no coughing as of yet but if she did develop a cough does she need a test?? Cold is progressing through the various stages as per 'normal'.

Only if it meets the criteria of 3 coughing bouts in 24 hours or coughing for 1 hour or more.

@Feminist10101

Only if it meets the criteria of 3 coughing bouts in 24 hours or coughing for 1 hour or more.

Coughing for one hour or more is quite clear but 3 coughing bouts in 24 hours I find more confusing. What defines a coughing bout? So if you cough three times in 24 hours do you need a test? I am feeling so anxious. If anyone in the house coughs my stress levels soar

A coughing bout is significant. A bit like someone choking in strength and longer than a cough or two. More of a coughing fit.

Medics tell me the Covid cough is more of a bark. Not a normal cough. Can leave the sufferer short of breath and unable to speak.

@Feminist10101 Thank you

I'm really hoping my common sense kicks in here.

I've had coughs in the past which mean I can't hold them down even if I wanted to. They wake you up and you cough a lot.

My kids cough all winter a couple of times a day. Dd did today after eating popcorn. Drink of water and soon soothed away. They have snotty noses but no temps or Loss of smell.

Surely to god I shouldn't be testing them every time they cough 3 times in 24 hrs? They'd never be a school and we'd never be at work!

I am pretty sure myself and DD had covid back in March and I agree with @Feminist10101 it was a bark croup like cough that was hard to stop or breath with. You would be coughing for a long long time.

But DS had a cough this week - to me it was a cold cough and it was clearly see. But I still had to get him tested because otherwise everyone is nervy about a cough.

@Feminist10101 well no, because thats not a new headache or fatigue, and has a quite clear cause. I would say fatugue is being more tired than you would expect to be.

Its like if you choked on water 3 times in one day, that would be 3 episodes of coughing but quite clearly not a new cough. Everyone needs to use some fucking common sense

I'd say like what I had the end of last year (before we knew coronavirus was even a thing!)
A continuous, hacking cough every 10 minutes that you can't help - dry, barking, nothing to do with phlegm or tickle, just constant coughing.
Was that way for a few months

Basically if you have a new cough, surely we all know when we are actually coughing?

When I had covid it was like a dry, barking cough. Not quite croup but not like your standard cold cough. But I was ill for a week before I got this cough, started out with mild temp and the shits for a day, then nothing just felt really really tired and vaguely fluey and then got a minor tickle on about day 5 - i mean I coughed like twice in a day. Then full blown dry, deep barking cough, where I struggled to breath only developed actually on about day 8/9, it was only then that I actually thought it might be covid.

But it shows why its really important to not rely on it being a barking cough, because I had a whole week of other symptoms before I got to the covid, and had I not been proactive I would have been spreading it around going 'oh its only a tickle'. I barely even had a temperature tbh.

I had a cold two weeks ago. Sore throat and a sinus cold. My nose was blocked up and I had a bit of a cough because of a post nasal drip. Not continuous, just annoying. Covid test was positive.

I've always thought of the symptom as "persistent cough." Persistent means recurring thru the day.

DH had a persistent cough when he had pneumonia. The kind of cough that everyone in the house knows someone has a cough problem.

If you're unwell and you have a cough, get a test.

If you cough because you've swallowed some water funny, cleared your throat, or tried to get someone's attention, don't get a test.

Before Covid I'm sure we all knew what "a cough" was and would easily be able to tell people if we or our children "have a cough" or not.

It's interesting that we are in September and a "new continuous cough" has been a key symptom since March - and yet still people don't know what it means. Another indictment of the government's poor communication.

Back in March people were asking on here what it was, and people were being really sniffy about people being stupid enough to ask. Well six months later, they're still asking. Not so stupid, huh?

@Jontysmum

I had a cold two weeks ago. Sore throat and a sinus cold. My nose was blocked up and I had a bit of a cough because of a post nasal drip. Not continuous, just annoying. Covid test was positive.

So this directly contradicts the poster above who wasn’t testing her kids because they ‘just have a cold’.

Agree communication is too unclear and they should just say ‘cough’.

If they just say "cough" though you'll get people saying "I just choked on an apple and coughed, should I get a test?".

I think when we went into lockdown many of us (me) believed that COVID was a really dramatic disease that would present with such severe symptoms that we'd be able to recognise it. The truth is that it can vary from feeling a bit off for a couple of days to death, and everything in between.

I'd say it's a cough you didn't have a few days ago. And you cough throughout the day. That is not just in the mornings or evenings or very occasionally.

Nearly every other country has a much more comprehensive list of symptoms than us

Not really. From what I have googled, we all have the same "long" list of symptoms. But if you go further into the actual testing criteria most other countries are doing the same as us ie: cough plus temperature.

Just having a cough isn't criteria enough for a test. Just having a headache isn't either. The temp also has to be 38+.

It is a myth that other countries are testing everyone. They aren't.

I had a mild, sporadic dry cough. Maybe a single cough 3 times an hour.

Both DH & I had covid but we only had occasional tickly cough. Certainly not continuous or persistent. DH nearly died with covid. The covid guidelines are about as useful as our government!

I've seen this thread and thought I'd post for some advice. I've got a headache, dry throat (not sore) and a sort-of cough, just every now and again the feeling of needing to clear my throat. I've tried to get a test and there are none available. I am also pregnant, and I am also meant to have a blood test today, which is necessary to check the level of medication I'm on and shouldn't be delayed. I just don't know what to do. I need the blood test and I'm not sure my cough counts as continuous, so I'm not sure technically I need to self-isolate. But if this is covid I would also feel terrible about spreading it. Someone tell me what to do!

@Sparkly101 ring the surgery or wherever you're due to have the blood test and ask