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Original poster

What is an 'episode of coughing'?

62 replies

Rae36 · 13/09/2020 16:11

Ds age 8 had a cough last week, had coughing fits several times in the day. Duly went for a test and was negative.

Ds age 12 coughed this morning in the car on the way to the park. Literally went "cough cough" and that was it. Didn't cough at all as we walked round the park and had tea and a cake in the cafe. Coughed again in the car on the way home about 11.30am. Same thing, 2 coughs and that was it. Haven't heard him since and he's been in the same room as me pretty much the whole time.

Scottish Government advice is 3 episodes of coughing in 24 hours needs a test. Does ds's two coughs count as an episode? Or do you have to cough a bit more than that.

I think 2 isolated coughs are not an episode. Dh disagrees.

He's now on hold to NHS to get advice on if these coughs count. Been on hold for 40 minutes now.

It's going to be a long winter.

OP posts:

Original poster

Rae36 · 13/09/2020 16:13

No other symptoms btw, no temperature

OP posts:

PepperPotty · 13/09/2020 16:16

The advice is a bit hazy isn’t it, but I don’t think you need to rush for a test, just keep an eye on things.

Thighdentitycrisis · 13/09/2020 16:24

that sounds like a tickle in the throat

3teens2cats · 13/09/2020 16:32

Sounds fine to me. Before covid would you have even registered the coughs?

My youngest ds (14) is full of snot but no temp and eating/enjoying food normally. He does a good 'man-flu' impression every time he comes downstairs but i have just been listening to him gaming online with his friends most of the afternoon (doing chores upstairs) and not heard him cough once. Therefore I conclude that his cough is neither persistent nor continuous.

dementedpixie · 13/09/2020 16:35

I wouldn't count them as episodes either

Spudlet · 13/09/2020 16:48

I’m taking an episode to mean a coughing fit as opposed to a single cough. So coughing to the end of a breath then again as soon as you draw a breath in. Something a bit more serious than an ‘ahem hem’ type cough. We think we had it earlier this year (coughs, fevers, awful fatigue, loss of taste for DH and weird toe rash things for me) and that’s how we were coughing - like ‘cough cough cough [breathe in] cough cough cough’ and so on. If that makes sense.

However I googled it earlier and there was even an article on the BMJ website saying that it was hard wording to interpret... if they don’t get it, I don’t see us lay people having much chance!

Iwonder777 · 13/09/2020 16:50

Good question!

LilyPond2 · 13/09/2020 16:54

In my mind, an "episode" of coughing would involve more than two coughs.

ReviewingTheSituation · 13/09/2020 16:57

On Friday's Your Call on R5live, a GP (doctor, not grandparent) phoned in to ask a doctor from the WHO (who was there as part of the team answering questions) this exact question. And she couldn't really answer it! I forgot exactly what she said, but it was more significant than you're describing.

3teens2cats · 13/09/2020 17:00

Agree nhs guidance isn't that helpful. Coughing to the extent you would excuse yourself to get a drink of water? Coughing until you run out of breath? Surely it has to be more than a couple of coughs to clear your throat? Coughing enough that other people notice you have a bit of a cough? Unfortunately we are all listening out for it at the moment so not sure about that one....

GaraMedouar · 13/09/2020 17:02

My DD has a ‘bit of a cough’ - she has a stinky cold - so snotty, the odd sneeze and odd cough - but no temp, so she will go into school tomorrow. I am fully expecting a call to say she has a cough and pick her up but I wouldn’t class it as persistent.

shesgonebatshitagain · 13/09/2020 17:07

The things is that there is a big difference between advice and orders.

If everyone ordered a test for coughing like this the delays would be even worse.

I do agree though that it is manifestly unclear what an episode constitutes and it’s very tricky especially with young kids already full of snot and cold.

Original poster

Rae36 · 13/09/2020 17:18

Dh gave up on his NHS phone call after 1hr waiting.
Ds hasn't coughed since. So I'm not going to do anything, apart from watch a bit more carefully. We've not had any cases at scho or work, I might think differently if there had been some local cases.

To my mind it takes more than a single cough to make an episode, but it's just not very clear. I guess if he coughs in school he'll get sent home and then we'll have to test him.

I wish the tests were easier too, then you could just pop in if you'd had 2 coughs. Here we have an 80 mile round trip. (Not using that as an excuse not to go obvs)

OP posts:

pjmask · 13/09/2020 17:47

I got advice from my gp about this. An episode is 20 plus minutes of coughing, so a sustained coughing fit. The misunderstanding around this is why there is a shortage of tests. It is of course possible to have Covid without a cough at all. But if your cough is caused by Covid your lungs will be inflamed and your cough will be persistent or continuous is what he advised

Spudlet · 13/09/2020 17:48

@pjmask Now that is a definition that is clear and understandable. Could your GP start writing public health policy please?!

RainbowRaine · 13/09/2020 17:56

I got advice from my gp about this. An episode is 20 plus minutes of coughing, so a sustained coughing fit

I wondered the same

chergar · 13/09/2020 18:05

My daughter has a cough, started off as a sore throat/general cold but then the cough started, she also had a really high temperature (no thermometer but very hot to touch) I ordered a home test, posted it at the end of last week and we are waiting for the results.

Her cough started as a dry tickle type cough, a few coughs (6-7) in a row but all through the day and night. She feels much better now, temp gone, sore throat better but she still has a cough that now seems 'productive'.

In my mind she does not/did not have Covid but due to the temp and cough at the time it needed to be ruled out.

Original poster

Rae36 · 13/09/2020 18:08

@pjmask that is exactly the sort of advice I've been looking for. Why is that not more public? Or is it and I've just missed it?

Thanks for sharing, it makes sense.

OP posts:

Ohchristmastreeohchristmastree · 13/09/2020 18:18

According to the Zoe app, coughing doesn’t even feature in the top 5 symptoms for children anyway!

PleasantVille · 13/09/2020 18:26

The advice Ive had from DCs school is that a continuous cough means coughing a lot for a period of an hour or 3 or more coughing episodes in a da

I wouldn't even register the coughing you've described I don't think.

PaddyF0dder · 13/09/2020 18:28

I would ignore the “3 episodes of coughing” guidance.

Think of it as ”coughing more than usual”.

StatisticalSense · 13/09/2020 18:30

2 isolated coughs that both happened in the car doesn't meet the criteria of 3 episodes in a day. That being said I would recommend leaving the car windows open for a few hours the next time it is parked on the drive in case there is something in the car that caused the coughing (you haven't happened to have had your car valeted or put one of those air fresheners in it have you?).

pjmask · 13/09/2020 18:33

He's a legend, it was so fortunate that I already had a telephone consultation booked with him for something unrelated so I was able to check with him about whether to get DD tested. I wish the government advice could be this clear!

OverTheRubicon · 13/09/2020 18:44

@GaraMedouar My DD has a ‘bit of a cough’ - she has a stinky cold - so snotty, the odd sneeze and odd cough - but no temp, so she will go into school tomorrow

In normal times fine, but honestly this is so selfish. If she has a stinky cold she'll pass it on to others, and as all kids respond differently at least a couple (maybe including the teacher) will get a temperature, or if they have asthma they will certainly get a persistent cough. If your dd is flagged as having a cough then they might well say she needs a test to return and you'll end up missing more time.

It's no good to say 'they all get them' , they wouldn't get half so many if selfish parents could keep them home a couple of days!

ChaChaCha2012 · 13/09/2020 18:51

An episode is 20 plus minutes of coughing, so a sustained coughing fit.

This seems to be your GP's own interpretation though, I can't find it anywhere in the official guidance, including that given to GPs (it's all available online).

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