Cough turned into continuous cough

[SeekingAnswers3]

Hello all,

My child has had a cold where he had the odd cough. It’s now turned into more of a continuous cough and much more persistent. Would you get him tested in this situation? It’s not a new cough but like I said it’s now more continuous.

yes

My children are exactly the same, they had a cold at the weekend with the odd cough then yesterday they were coughing a lot more, last night it became continuous. I'm pretty sure it's from the cold but I got them tested this morning. There's always a chance it could be the virus and coughs can last weeks and I can't send them back to nursery or school while they are coughing unless they have a negative test.

Mine has been coughing but only at night as a result of congestion and we haven't tested.

Yes, needs a test

Well... you should

Test or isolate for two weeks, up to you

Well bizarrely there was a few tests available this evening so my husband has taken him and we will all quarantine till we hear the result. Just wanted to know I was doing the right thing really because it’s not a new cough, it’s an old cough that’s become more persistent

By your logic you should have tested him when it appeared, then.

Maybe but I don’t think so @GreyishDays

Before he had a cold and coughed once or twice every couple of hours as the mucus tickled his throat. It was a wet sounding cough. The cold has now mostly gone but the cough has changed from productive to sounding drier and is more persistent... I wouldn’t have got him tested for an odd cough every couple of hours with a cold. It was evidently a cold with a streaming nose, no fever or change in taste / smell.

My logic is that the nature of the cough (for whatever reason) has changed in frequency (happening a lot more this afternoon) and consistency (dry sounding now).

I haven’t heard him cough now since they returned 🤷‍♀️

I think he should have been tested with the first cough. Did you keep him at home?

I agree with Slightlybrwnbanana - if your child had a cough, technically you should have got a test. You don’t need to be coughing for an hour to be symptomatic. It’s a cough that doesn’t go away after an hour - to rule out a cough because something is stuck in your throat. That was the advice given to me by a GP.

The NHS website states:

“a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)“

I wouldn’t have called what he had before as ‘coughing episodes’ or even ‘coughing a lot’ so technically I don’t think he hit the criteria before. Yes he was off school with the cold. I’m lucky enough that I can work remotely so I’ve never sent them in ill even before Covid.

From how the above reads you aren’t entitled to a test just because you have a cough... it has to be a continuous cough. Perhaps they should just remove all the waffle and just say ‘get a test if you have a cough.’

I also haven’t tested my daughter for a not continuous cough. She had a cold a few weeks ago & coughed to clear her snotty chest & throat very infrequently. Not a coughing fit but rather one big singular cough. It was clearly just from all the snot. However, her more recent cold developed into a persistent cough. She was coughing on & off all day and when she did cough, it was a fit of coughing. It was still all from the extreme amounts of snot. I did test her this time, was negative.

You don’t need to test for a cough that isn’t persistent. As a parent, you know full well what a persistent cough sounds like to your child. We’ve all been there. Don’t let people tell you otherwise. Follow the guidance or poor kids will be being tested every other week.

I think you have done the right thing. It doesnt sound like covid symptoms but as you say, people will want the negative result.

You will upset someone either way by risking it or by wasting a test. Whichever is that particular persons bee in their bonnet.

I was talking to a friend about her adult dd and as a parent you do know if it's a normal progression for a cold or if its unusual for them to get a cough. If the tests are available then on balance once its unusual you might as well presume it could be covid ( although its unlikely).

I hope the test comes back asap for you. And its negative.