What’s a continuous cough? (Sorry)

[Nochangeplease]

I’m sorry, I know this has been done. I hate to be that person.
But what is a continuous cough. My daughter has developed a cough today. Not coughing fits. Just a couple of little coughs every so often throughout the day. I hadn’t heard her, but she’s telling me she’s had it all day.

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)

If it's all day, that's continuous and persistent.

Continuous in this situation doesn't mean massive long bouts of coughing that lasts minutes/hours.

The opposite of continuous would be if she accidentally swallowed something wrong and choked and coughed a bit.

Book her a test and self-isolate. Hope she feels better soon x

The cough is a tricky one. But personally I'd say it's more than cough-cough periodically.

Have you taken her temperature?

Hope she's ok x

To the pp that copied and pasted from gov.uk, I don’t mean to sound dim but I find it so vague.
Coughing a lot for more than an hour- she’s not coughing a lot. Quite infrequently.
3 coughing episodes in a day- what’s an episode? They’re just mild little coughs. More than clearing your throat but definitely not an episode.

So she fits neither of those categories the way I’m reading them? She has coughed more than 3 times but not episodes and not a lot in an hour.

I’ll get a test anyway I suppose as it seems the responsible thing to do. It’s quite shit though as my job is already on the line over all this shit.

@WitchesBritchesPumpkinPants That’s what it is. ‘Cough-cough’ every so often.
Temp is fine and otherwise fine but obviously we don’t cough for no reason so covid or not there’s probably something brewing.

Hmm op I’m not convinced of that being a continuous cough from what you describe and agree it’s vague.

It's the knowledge that 'My daughter has developed a cough today'. You know she's got a cough. You know she doesn't normally have this cough. All day means it's persistent so not just due to a tickle eg from eating something like we all get sometimes. Definitely agree with your decision to isolate and get her tested.

That's how I started and it was covid.

I haven’t heard her. So I’m doubting it a bit. She just told me a couple of hours ago and since then I’ve heard her cough maybe 3/4 times. She’s in bed now. Had a late night as I was waiting to see how much she was coughing.
I do believe her but she definetly hasn’t had a bad cough all day becuase I would have noticed. But maybe it started with the odd cough this morning and she didn’t really pay it any notice but as the days gone on it made her wonder

It's having a cough. Rather than "oh that made me cough". It is "I have a cough". If you coughed for an hour non stop you'd think "I've got a bloody awful cough" if you kept coughing on and off (more than 3 times!) all day for no particular reason you'd think "hmm I'm getting a cough"

If you've got a new cough, or.a different to usual cough, isolate, get a test.

It's annoying at this time of year since so many viruses cause coughs but unfortunately covid 19 might be the culprit.

Is she trying to get out of something? How old is she?

Just get her tested. No point in putting others at risk is there?

I agree OP. I couldn't work it out. I had a cold which turned into a cough like it normally would . It was a new continuous cough but I could see why I'd got it. I had a test anyway after reading of people testing positive with varying symptoms. It was negative .

@Mandatorymongoose That’s what I would say if someone asked me too.
So why are they over complicating it? Why not just say ‘if you have a cough different to your normal cough’ why do they confuse people with talks of continuous coughs, episodes and lots of coughing. Surely most with common sense would not book a test if they chocked on a grape or something and coughed afterwards

@incognitomum shes 15 and I don’t think she’s trying to get out of school but you never know. I think if she was she’d just say she was unwell, not covid symptoms as she knows I need to work and also wouldn’t want to have to test and isolate

I won’t do anything now. See if she’s coughing in the morning. As I said, I haven’t really heard her cough today. If she’s coughing in the morning I’ll book a test . My manager will be so annoyed.

Your not describing a continuous cough.
A person with a continuous cough will have an episode of coughing that lasts an hour.
Or they will have 3 episodes of continuosly coughing in 24 hours.
You would hear her if it lasted that long. And she would feel knackered if she coughed for that long.
I dont think she needs tested.

When I had COVID I didn't have huge coughing fits, that's not what the guidance means.

I had a cough that kept coming every so often, throughout the day. It wasn't the sort of cough you get from a tickle in the throat or the sort when you get a nasty chest infection...those sort of coughs have a reason.

The COVID cough comes of it's own accord, it's not a lot but you can't help it IYSWIM.
I would get your daughter tested, from what you describe.

I had an infrequent dry cough which was not really an issue (at first). I coughed a little two or three times a day. I also had a mild sore throat and was more tired than normal. I tested positive 6 weeks ago. The cough is far worse now.

@WanderingMilly I agree

My cough started after I tested positive.
It started as a clearing your throat type cough. It then got a little more obvious.
Whilst clearly there a day or so later it was nothing like the persistent cough I had with pneumonia. It was much less and much more mild.

One of my relatives got his positive result back yesterday. The only symptom he has is a new, dry cough. His DM gave up counting coughs after 16 in an hour, but thought it was OTT to test him. Turns out he's Covid positive right enough.

it is really tricky. I took my son out of school for what sounds like the same and got him tested (it was negative)

The public health bods at the council wrote to all the schools (which passed it onto us) saying that any cough that "is different to their usual cough" should be taken seriously. By that token I did not isolate my other son (on another occasion) who was coughing quite a bit but he had had a normal cold and it was an entirely predictable chain of events as he always ends up coughing like this. The son I isolated never gets coughs at all so was unusual for him.

That being said it depends on attitude of the school. Ours is happy to have them in school as long as coughs are 'their normal cough' (which worries me tbh surely some 'normal coughs' could turn out to be covid). Other schools seems to have a 'no cough' policy.

I think I had Covid but there weren’t tests around at the time unless you went into hospital.

My cough was continuous to the point of choosing whether to cough or breathe became a dilemma.
When a round of coughing started I couldn’t stop to the point I thought I was either going to have a heart attack or I would cough my lungs up.

I think I had it pretty bad but others I know have had really mild symptoms

DS had coughs similar to your DD's several weeks ago. Insignificant small coughs, but it was new, and throughout the day. They didn't bother DS at all, and we wouldn't have acted at all but for the current situation. Talked to a 111 nurse on the phone, and she told us that he would need a test. The test came back negative. The government guideline should be clearer.